The Rubied Hunter Chronicles
by Stancrow
Summary: In the shadows of more famous hunter teams, eight students at Beacon Academy are forced to set aside their differences in the face of a silent threat even the faculty refuses to acknowledge. Racing against time, a traitor, and forces they don't understand, Teams CAPR and HOPE may be all that stand between Beacon and an army of monsters. Episode one of a round robin series.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: 

Teenagers saving the world with wicked combat skills and razor-sharp wit? Frickin' awesome weapons cleaving beasts from nightmares in half? Comedy _and_ romance as a backdrop (Jaune and Pyrrha? _Love_ them!)? What's _not_ to like about Rooster Teeth's teen adventure series _RWBY_?

A friend, who has asked that I refer to him as S875, introduced me to this awesome world in 2013 and I was hooked right away.

After some collaborative writing with S875, I invited him to hone his skills with a little round robin action. Thus, the story you see below was born. Now into its fourth episode, my friend gave me full permission to post our piece here at . I have to say, it has been a pleasure watching his skills grow over the last 4 years writing together.

The stories themselves have been a labor of love, and a joy in their own right. For instance, Team HOPE has blossomed in ways I never expected. I've loved writing these characters, one of which has gone on to be one of the most organic characters I've ever worked with (Seriously... she fancies _him_? _Why_? Girl, what were you _thinking_?)

S875 and I alternated chapters, and I've credited him in each one he wrote.

And so, without further ado, we present _The Rubied Hunter Chronicles: a Round Robin._

* * *

 **EPISODE ONE: THE BATTLE OF BEACON**

Chapter 1 (S875)

Azure stirred in his Beacon-issued bed, blinking as he gazed into the blurry ceiling. He slowly brought his left hand into the air, clenching it several times before finally bringing it down to cover his left eye.

"And just what might you be doing at this dreadful hour of the morning?" sighed his roommate and girlfriend Rin. "Bad dreams again?"

He lifted his heavy eyelids again, and brought himself to meet Rin's beautiful blue eyes, situated in her own bed a couple meters away. But he couldn't bring himself to return her warm smile – Because she was right. It was a recurring dream, and every time it came manifested it seemed to uncover more and more of a particular event from a couple years ago that he otherwise had no memory of.

Long before arriving at Beacon, Rin and Azure were already together, striving to become the best hunter/huntress pair that they could. They trained routinely, and operated in almost perfect sync with each other, almost completely eliminating the need for vocal communication.

But one day on a fateful day of training, they had an unexpected encounter with a Deathstalker and a few Grimm, and ended up locked into combat with it. The battle was going poorly – As coordinated as they were, they had never fought an enemy of that size and strength before. The last thing Azure remembered was seeing Rin struggling to get off the ground, and then an enormous claw being swung in his face.

And then there was nothing. He woke up some time later to Rin frantically treating a set of serious wounds covering his body that he definitely didn't have when he was knocked unconscious. When he asked what had happened, she looked at him in disbelief at his apparent unawareness of what had happened.

According to her, he had apparently gotten up in some sort of crazed state, and completely destroyed the Deathstalker and its entourage. There were telltale signs of his prized Kusanagi behind the carnage spread around him. There was no way Rin could've or would've engaged in close-range combat with her Dragon's Teeth. Those daggers were far from capable of raking the Deathstalker's armor like was seen on its corpse, or dismembering the limbs and torsos of its entourage.

Rin's warm expression faded as Azure lost himself in his recollection of the dream. While in his trance, she crawled out of bed and sat beside him, wrapping her arms around him to comfort him. She knew she was right, and knew that he didn't' like what he was remembering.

"Mmmph, now what's wrong?" mumbled Celeste, their team leader, beneath her covers.

"Nothing!" said Rin and Azure in tandem. Rin withdrew her grip, and quickly fell back into her bed.

"C'mon, I'm trying to sleep," came the muffled voice of Picton, the last member of Team CAPR.

Celeste picked herself up and stretched, combing her tangled dirty blonde hair as she finished. Picton was less responsive, only managing to barely open his eyes as he pulled the covers off his head.

"0749 hours. That's a new record," teased Celeste. "How long have you been up?"

"We just got up, don't worry about it," replied Azure.

"Seven minutes, 35 seconds to be precise," grumbled Picton under his breath. "You two really aren't good at being quiet."

Rin blushed slightly as she retreated back to the safety of her bed, as if that'd change something. Both Azure and Rin were aware that Celeste and Picton were aware of their involvement with each other, which bothered both to some degree. Azure more or less didn't care, but Rin always shared some greater concern, because exposure of their relationship served them no good. For other people to be aware would be for them to potentially exploit it as a weakness.

"Keep your head out of their business," laughed Celeste. "Wouldn't want to bother them, would you?"

"Can't help it, ma'am," replied Picton.

"Alright then, let's get ourselves some breakfast, shall we? Might as well start training early now that we're all up. That upcoming tournament isn't going to make itself any easier on us."

"Yes, it's best if we start as soon as possible," stated Rin. "Let's go."

Rin tugged at Azure, prompting him to get up. He rubbed his eyes a couple times before responding and catching up to her side. Picton was out of bed and standing in a swift motion, as stretched once more before following the couple out. Celeste was the last out, who stayed to ponder the upcoming competition.

There was the inter-school tournament that would pit students against each other, and then there was the hunting competition, which would test what each student had enrolled into Beacon for – To destroy the Grimm. There were two ways a team could compete – By either seeking out the Grimm, or having a set of judges throw Grimm at them.

Celeste wasn't quite sure which one she was going to sign up Team CAPR for. Though they were several months into the semester, she still didn't feel confident in their abilities as a team. And if she didn't feel confident, then it'd be on her if something bad happened to any of them.

Death could easily sweep down upon them before an instructor could step in to do something about it. If the worst were to happen…

 _It'd be that… All over again,_ thought Celeste.

Everyone else was halfway to the dining hall before Celeste caught up with them. The majestic carved wooden halls echoed slightly with the voices of her teammates, and she hushed them as she got close – Most people were still sleeping.

They arrived in the dining hall just as it opened, and grabbed their fresh meals off a la carte line. Azure and Rin were sharing some soup, fruits, and tea. Picton settled for cereal, and Celeste toasted some bread before sitting down and losing herself in her thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 (Stan Crow)

Patience Saint Monica had been a model student from the moment she'd stepped onto the landing platform that opened Beacon Academy to her. Suspicions had, of course, swirled when at least two dozen weapons had gone missing one night, only to reappear the next morning in all the wrong spots, but everyone _else_ had been blamed. Then there was the cafeteria incident, the ursa in the courtyard, and the missing statue. No one would ever know why one girl had fled the school in tears just yesterday.

None of it had been her fault. Even Ozpin wouldn't be able to prove anything.

It took but a week to observe and catalog every first year student and formulate a plan to deal with all of them. The denizens of Beacon were clearly more dangerous than the sisters of the nunnery, but confidence could blind people just as readily as naïveté.

A hand on her shoulder surprised her and she had a dagger at her attacker's throat in an instant. The distant—almost bored—eyes of professor Ozpin gazed back at her, and she lowered the weapon.

"Excuse me, Miss Saint Monica," he said, his tone light, "Might I have a word with you?"

Before most students had finished breakfast, the austere confines of Ozpin's office conspired to cage her. The headmaster rested in his chair, idly examining a file nearly as thick as Patience's arm. She just picked at her nails with her dagger. A flutter of indigo brushed her face, a not-so-subtle reminder of the third occupant's presence. Patience didn't give Professor Goodwitch the honor of acknowledgement the older woman surely wanted, idly wondering whether she shared a bed with Ozpin. But who would blame the old man if he did? Goodwitch brought milky skin and curves that didn't quit to the table. Patience had been around long enough to know that men often didn't mellow with age until well past their prime. In fact, if her past hadn't caught up with her so quickly as to provoke her recent change of heart, she'd use her own considerable charms to… persuade him… to revoke the punishment she knew was coming. She scrunched her arms together out of habit, emphasizing her ample cleavage. He didn't seem to notice.

"Miss Saint Monica," the old man began, looking at her much the way the Reverend Mother always had when Patience had been brought in by yet another officer, "are you aware of the rules and requirements we expect our students to abide by at Beacon?"

She had already considered her response. "You know how the nuns will take my return."

Ozpin's shoulder's slumped. "And _you_ know very well they sent you here for your own benefit. But we cannot abide our students ruining the education and threatening the well-being of their peers. Considering the evidence against you, I suggest you be ready for the next airship to Fevoreaux. It leaves in," and he glanced at his watch, "forty seven minutes. I will alert them to expect you."

Patience covered the lance of pain through her heart with a yawn, and answered Goodwitch's glare with a cordial smile. "I see how it is. I really had expected you to be more a man of your word, Professor. It'd be a pity if people learned otherwise. Your reputation stretches far and wide. Almost as far and wide as my… circle of friends."

Ozpin didn't even flinch.

"Well," and Patience stood and stretched, "cloister food isn't the worst thing I've eaten in my life." She turned for the exit without a word, ignoring Goodwitch's narrowed gaze. She took the doorknob in her hand, determined not to even shiver at the thought of her failure.

The door flew open, and only years of combat reflexes allowed her to dodge it.

"Professor Ozpin, wait!" A breeze of red hair flew past her stopping at the headmaster's desk in the form of a younger girl breathing heavily as she rested her hands on the desk. "It was me, sir. All of it."

Ozpin arched an eyebrow. "Are you attempting to defend this young woman?"

The redhead turned and looked at Patience. Ah, yes—the girl with the dual-coloured eyes and slightly misshapen face. She was no particular threat, and rather unattractive, but she did have an unnerving way of always seeming to know what you were about to say. After several seconds searching her memory, Patience recalled the girl's name: "Hope."

"Yes," Hope panted. "She's completely innocent."

"Oh I _strongly_ doubt that, Miss Harris," Goodwitch said, sneering slightly at Patience. "Our case against her is unquestionable. Someone of your potential deserves better than to be dragged down by _that_ ," and she gestured at Patience.

"My team," Hope said, straightening, "is incomplete at the moment."

"Presumably because of her," the old woman said flatly. "We have reason to believe she drove your companion out. We will assign you a new teammate. One who will work _with_ your team, instead of against it."

"But I want _her,_ " Hope said, a finger jabbing unmistakably at Patience.

Patience's breath caught. What was this chick playing at? Was this all some elaborate ruse set up by Ozpin to dangle hope of staying in front of her, only to snatch it away by another of his casual edicts?

"And just why," the headmaster asked, rising and crossing to examine Patience closely, "would you want to take such a risk, especially this close to the tournament?"

Hope locked eyes with Patience. Patience forced herself to look positively bored; somehow, she knew she wasn't fooling the other girl.

"I want her," hope answered softly, "because I'm her only chance for long-term joy. I can't ignore my duty to her, no matter what she may have done to me and my friends."

Ozpin traded a look with Goodwitch, who glared, and then stalked out of the room.

"Very well, then," the headmaster said. "One. Last. Chance."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 (S875)

 _Search and destroy lets us attack at our own pace, but if things get bad, the proctors won't be close enough to help,_ thought Celeste to herself. _The arena-style competition is safer, but puts more limits on us…_

"What's bugging you, Picton?" asked Azure. "You've got this weird look on your face."

"Remember that weird stuff happening a couple weeks ago?" started Picton? "The one where –"

"24 weapons were misplaced, an Ursa ended up in the courtyard, a statue went missing, and that hole opened up over there?" finished Celeste. "What of it?"

"Looks like they finally caught the culprit."

"What? That was all one person?" blurted Azure through his tea.

"This shouldn't come as a surprise. The malicious style of the attacks is fairly unique and consistent," responded Rin as she bit into a strawberry. "There wasn't anything about them that couldn't have been achieved with one person."

"Alright then, who was it, and how do you know?"

"Patience, the girl they forced onto Team DSPR because no one else could stand her," answered Picton. "Next to nobody does anything without me knowing about it. I detected her moving around the campus at unusual hours prior to each of those events. To top it off, she just paid a visit to Ozpin."

Everyone drew back slightly in amazement at Picton's unrivaled perceptive ability. They knew that his semblance was surveillance, but it almost never failed to impress. It was as if he could see straight through walls and had eyes on the back of his head. No detail escaped the grasp of his semblance – Whether that be a faded footprint or a loose screw in the wall, he could exploit it to its fullest and make something come out of seemingly nothing.

This is precisely what landed him a contract at a top-tier security company not more than several years ago. If there was a flaw in a security system, he could find it, exploit it, and then make it better. But nobody else knew this, or needed to know.

"Hey, Patience, wait up!" echoed a voice down the hall.

"Here she comes…" muttered Picton, as he spooned in another mouthful of cereal. "And she's got company.

Moments later as forecasted, a pair of frustrated voices echoed down the halls. Rin and Azure's eyes locked across the table as they silently agreed to minimize their interactions.

"Just in time, as usual" remarked Patience. As much as she hated to admit it, she was certain that the clarion call of her doom had arrived the second she brought that dagger to Ozpin's bare neck. "What do you want now, a thank you?"

"Um…"

Still refusing to make eye contact, she continued her slightly agitated pace toward the cafeteria. "I'm grateful, but you're gonna have to do better than that if you want anything else."

Hope was more or less walking at her side, albeit slightly behind. Her hand fidgeted behind her back as she tried to figure out what to say next. "We're practicing after class today."

Patience stopped dead in her tracks barely hiding her shock, just short of entering the cafeteria. "Seriously?"

A silent nod was all Hope could manage in response.

"Fine. Where?"

"Uh, I don't know yet."

It was obvious to her that Hope was making this up on the fly, but she at least got points for trying. It wasn't everyday their leader tried to rein everyone including her in for a round of practice.

"Anything else you want to say?"

Hope's eyes searched the ground as her mind scrambled for something more. "No."

"I'm getting coffee and then I'm leaving. Don't wait up," said Patience as she gave a weak wave to Hope, still without looking at her.

Rin and Azure tensed slightly as she passed, biting into food to hide their agitation. Celeste on the other hand, took to putting a hand behind her back on her compacted glaive, La Massicot, and tracking Patience like a hawk.

"Patience," muttered Picton under his breath as she passed.

Everyone flinched in anticipation as she aggressively turned around. Everyone was thinking the same thing – What was he doing?

Patience shot a glance at Picton as she walked past, and then blew him a quick kiss. "They all say my name that way," she called behind her.

"Right… Next time you want to open up a hole in the cafeteria, use dust powder, not an entire crystal. It's not nearly as wasteful."

Without responding, she sauntered toward the food counter, picking up a single cup of dark black coffee before quietly leaving for her dorm.

Now that she was out of the room, Celeste could rest. She relaxed her death grip on La Massicot, and brought her hand back to the table. There was something about that girl that she didn't like. She couldn't put her finger on it because they hadn't formally met, but her very presence always made her gut uneasy.

Rin shot Picton a slightly irritated look, only to be returned a calm look. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Making note of what she did wrong. What she chooses to do from here is up to her."

"You told her how to better blow up the school – Why?"

"Perhaps to encourage her to do it again, and get kicked out?" ventured Celeste.

"No comment."

Azure slowly took another sip of tea, savoring it as the warm liquid passed down his throat. "What do you guys think Ozpin pulled her in for? I mean, we don't know for sure that Ozpin actually caught her or anything, do we?"

"Judging by the way Hope booked it to his office, I think it's a safe assumption," stated Picton.

"Next you'll tell us you know exactly what she said," laughed Celeste under her breath.

"Or do I know?"

Azure shot him an incredulous look. "Well, do you?"

"No, but I could tell you what you and Rin were discussing earlier if you'd like."

Rin shot Picton a death glare that penetrated to the very depths of his soul, while still managing a smile. "Ah, how about not?"

Picton immediately withdrew his urge to make further comments. "As you wish."

"Anyways," interrupted Celeste. "We're training after class again. Search and destroy in the Emerald Forest. We're gonna try something new this time."

"Didn't a couple teams simultaneously encounter a Nevermore and a Deathstalker in there when teams were first assembled?" asked Azure.

"Yes, teams JNPR and RWBY."

Celeste shifted uneasily in her seat at the word "RWBY." "Ruby Rose, the only 15-year old to ever make it into Beacon. Kind of intimidating, isn't it?"

"I'm not entirely surprised. Considering how easy it is to get your way with Ozpin, it probably didn't take much more than a bit of sweet talking to get her way," added Rin.

Azure looked up suddenly. "Wait, she uses a scythe, right?"

"Yes, she's the only one in the entire school that uses a scythe."

"Right, definitely wouldn't be pleasant to be on the receiving end of that thing."

Celeste looked away for a moment to hide her dissatisfaction with the conversation. "Thankfully, we're probably not going to end up signing for the combat tournament. We're training to kill the Grimm, not people."

Her thoughts suddenly turned back to Hope and her team. They too were going to be training in the Emerald Forest. Perhaps they could train together? Then again, if Patience was going to be there, then she wanted to have nothing to do with her.

"Poor girl," thought Celeste out loud. "If she told Patience about a training session, that means she probably talked Ozpin out of kicking her out, assuming that's what they were talking about in the first place. Why would she do that? A team with so few components can't afford a single dysfunctional unit… It's the job of a leader to make sure one person doesn't bring everyone else down…!"

"Incoming," whispered Picton under his breath.

"Hi, what're you guys talking about? I heard something about the Emerald Forest earlier," came Hope's voice from behind Azure.

Everyone but Picton looked at her in shock – When did she get there?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 (Stan Crow)

"Hey, Patience, wait up!"

The other girl sauntered to a stop and turned a bland gaze on her. Hope knew that look—she'd seen it from every person who thought that Hope's lazy eye and unique face somehow made her "inferior." Hope closed her eyes for a moment, bracing herself for the verbal barrage.

"What do you want now," Patience asked casually. "A thank you?"

Persecution from a teammate wasn't a burden she'd expected when the mantle of team leadership had been thrust upon her a mere twelve hours ago with the sudden departure of Theresa. Of _course_ Patience wouldn't thank her, but Hope _had_ hoped that the girl would have waited for a private place to embarrass her. That hope disappeared when the dark-haired, older girl had bee-lined it for the cafeteria after Hope had bailed her out.

"Um," Hope began, debating on whether this was the kind of girl to stand up to first to avoid problems later, or whether Patience's pain would be better soothed by the gentle salve of, well, patience, over time.

"I'm grateful," Patience murmured, surprising Hope, "but you're gonna have to do better than that if you want anything else."

Hope felt something lighten in her chest. Was it possible Patience was only hiding a deeper sense of gratitude for sake of public appearance? Perhaps including her in team THEO—no, they'd need a new team name now— had been the right thing. Perhaps, for once, she had properly understood one of her visions. Not wanting to let the moment pass, but not wanting to embarrass the other girl—no, woman—back into her callous shell, she chanced an invitation. "We're practicing after class today."

Patience raised her eyebrows, looking underwhelmed, and Hope felt her heart tighten a little. "Seriously?" The woman's dark eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, and the barest hint of a mocking smile flashed across her lips.

Hope deflated. Her head and shoulders drooped automatically, and the best she could do was a weak nod.

"Fine," Patience said, tone light. "Where?"

"Uh, I don't know yet." Hope felt as though thousands of eyes were on her, though she hadn't seen more than about three dozen other students in the cafeteria this morning.

"Anything else you want to say?" The woman sounded positively chipper, and Hope shook at her core. She had thought that her time at Beacon would have steeled her against this kind of deep humiliation—the kind of humiliation where the other person knew _exactly_ which buttons to push to make you collapse in on yourself and question every last though that you might have maybe been worth something.

"No," she nearly whispered. She waited for Patience to ask her to repeat her answer; they all did, just to pour salt in the wound. Instead the woman merely smiled, looking so genuine it made Patience sick.

With a nod, Patience added "I'm getting coffee and then I'm leaving. Don't wait up." She actually had the nerve to _wave_ , albeit barely, as she walked away, not even glancing behind her.

No, Hope's vision had been wrong. As usual. This was shaping up to be the absolute worst day she'd had since stepping off the airship. _

Classes blurred together. When she looked at her notes after returning to the dorm room she had been assigned to, she was dismayed to realize she couldn't read any of them. Was this how it was going to be for the rest of her four years? Neither Optima nor Everest had had a chance to cope with losing Theresa, and now she had saddled them with a teammate that stood for everything Team THEO did not. A teammate who was fine publicly humiliating her new team lead. Hope knew her sleepless nights had just begun. How would she focus on her studies? How could she perform well in team practice or personal training? How long would it be before things collapsed around her ears? She buried her face in her pillow and groaned.

"What's wrong, girly?" a smooth, rich voice said from behind her. "The clouds are supposed to be up in the sky watering the earth. Not on your face, sprinkling your bed. There, now, the sun will come out, just you wait."

Hope smiled up at the tall, ebon-skinned girl whose face and body were absolutely perfect as far as she could tell. Optima Nigel _deserved_ to be here. She also deserved to be the team lead, but when Hope had tried to convince her and Everest, Optima had laughed, and Everest smiled mildly, enigmatically listing "reasons" for choosing Hope over the clearly superior alternative. Hope took comfort, at least, in knowing that her teammates supported her regardless of her worthiness.

Except, she wasn't so sure about Patience.

As if on cue, the roguish woman burst into the room, made a beeline for the nearest bed —Hope's bed, of course— and flopped herself backward with a great sigh. "Let's practice napping," she said, tugging off her uniform and stretching out in her skivvies.

Hope blushed, more for Everest's sake than because the sight was anything new. "You might want to get dressed before Everest—"

"Before I what?" the accented voice floated through the door.

Hope snatched the quilt from Optima's bed and whipped it over Patience.

"Before you…come up with a new name for the team!" She laughed nervously. "Right. This afternoon's practice is brainstorming a new team name."

"Well," Everest said, eyes fixed on Hope, "Who is our new teammate?"

"Patience Saint Monica," Patience said, casting off the covers and stretching. "And I say that Team THEO is now Team HOPE."

"Hear, hear," Optima agreed with a raised eyebrow.

Hope felt her face flush. "Okay," she squeaked.

Everest whirled on Patience, and promptly passed out.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 (S875)

Rin took an irritated breath before narrowing her eyes at Hope. "Surely you must have something better to do than eavesdrop on us."

Celeste sighed as Hope withdrew slightly. "Rin, don't worry about it. Hope is your name, right?"

Hope nodded silently.

"If you're interested, we'll be hot-dropping into the Emerald Forest after class today. C'mon everyone, we're done here."

Team CAPR rose from their seats in unison, and headed for the halls without a further word to their potential adversary.

As they started back down the empty morning halls, Celeste lost herself in thought again, pondering the spontaneity of her invitation to Hope. A team with only three members in it shouldn't pose a significant threat to them in any sort of competitive environment, but she wasn't comfortable essentially showcasing her team's abilities to a team that could potentially end up competing against them.

But why? Hope seemed like a nice and reasonable person, up until a few minutes ago. What was she doing with someone like Patience? Defending her was out of the question – Nobody in the right mind would go out of their way to defend someone as malignant as that.

The matter was still on her mind when they returned to their dorm room. There was still some time before class started at 9, so she spent it laying in bed, still lost in thought.

"What's bothering you?" suddenly came Picton. "You haven't said anything since we finished breakfast. Did you eat something bad?"

Celeste rolled over with somewhat blank expression. "No, nothing like that. I'm just second-guessing whether or not I should've invited Hope to train with us."

"You fear espionage? Worry not, for we should occur to them as the least of their problems when compared to Team JNPR. They've got little reason to be spying on us when they could be spying on the famous Pyrrha Nekos."

She was a bit drawn back at how spot-on Picton's guess was, but he had a point. There was indeed almost no reason for Hope to see them as a team of interest.

"15-minute warning to class," announced Rin.

"Let's go," ordered Celeste.

Rin sighed as Professor Porter droned on. As interesting as the lecture might occur to other people, there was absolutely nothing he was saying that her and Azure didn't already know. Azure shared the same lack of enthusiasm, but he was busy doodling on his notepad rather than at least pretending to listen.

"And that concludes today's lecture," bellowed the plump professor. "Don't forget your essays on weak points is due next class, and be sure to train for the upcoming tournaments. Dismissed!"

Azure and Rin were among the first out of the lecture hall, and rushed back to the dorm without waiting for Picton or Celeste. The second the door closed, they quickly exchanged hugs before pushing her head against his. Just because they hid their relationship didn't mean it wasn't there.

Their brief exchange ended when Rin lifted her head up and sighed in relief. "We should probably get ready before they get here."

"Right." They gathered their normal clothes together, and then turned back to back as they changed out of their uniforms.

They finished at the exact moment that Celeste and Picton walked in the door. Neither seemed amused by them already being ready to go.

Celeste collapsed momentarily on her bed, stretching as she yawned. "Take a few minutes to rest, and then we're heading off."

Picton followed suit, collapsing face-first into his pillow. Knowing how he was, it wouldn't have surprised her if he spent more time watching other people than listening to lecture. For better or for worse was an entirely different question.

"Azure, Rin, since you're both ready to go, feel free to launch into the forest early. We'll catch up," murmured Celeste through her sheets.

"Wait, launch? You mean we're using the launch pads?" asked Azure.

"Yes, we're going to practice regrouping. We need to be able to do that consistently just in case we get separated in a real combat situation."

"Fair enough. Later, then."

Rin followed him out as he went out the door, wrapping herself around his arm as the door shut behind them. Both relished the thought of fighting alongside each other because of how meaningful it was to how they got to know each other. They had years of practice with each other under their belts too, making them among the best pairings in their graduating class.

When they got outside, she released her grip, and gave him a look commanding his attention. "We should practice crowd control while we can. We haven't done that in a while."

"What? Are you sure? Shouldn't we be trying to save dust crystals for the real thing?"

"I can replace them with ease, there's no need to be stingy with them."

Azure looked away briefly, before reluctantly turning back. "Alright, your call then."

The sun beat down upon them as they reached an opening leading to the cliff dropping into the Emerald Forest. They both looked at the launch pads, and then smirked at each other, shaking their heads in disapproval as they did.

Azure scooped up Rin in his arms and leaned forward. "Ready?"

Rin reached into her crystal pack and felt around for a few seconds before nodding. Azure started walking forward, accelerating exponentially as he traversed the imaginary runway before him. As he reached the edge of the cliff, he jumped into the air, nearly touching the clouds above him. Just before they started descending, he dropped Rin, waving at her as she fell backward into the forest. She closed her eyes before turning herself around and spearheading toward the ground.

She'd be fine – Azure was sure of it. He opened his body up like a parachute, and several seconds after she was no more than a speck amongst the forest beneath him, he followed suit, diving headfirst like a missile.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 (Stan Crow)

Perfect aim or not, Patience resented the inevitable assignment as any team's sniper. Granted, she'd only been on one other team. Sitting alone on a tree branch while actually aiming to kill wasn't so bad—certainly less dangerous than anything she'd dealt with in the city. It was the endless hours of _waiting_ that drove her insane. She cycled Patricius for the umpteenth time, flicking it from sniper crossbow mode to trident with barely a wave.

 _Boring._

Hope had tried to cover Everest's embarrassing scene in the dorm room with a hasty suggestion to "train really hard" ahead of the tournament, and so they'd spent the last three afternoons in the Emerald Forest hunting for Grimm that were nowhere to be found. It didn't help that Hope seemed to know nothing about hunting the creatures. They weren't even in the right spot. When Patience had tried to explain the problem, Hope had just asked her to "trust me."

 _So boring._

Glancing at the ground, the soft grass of the nearby clearing called to her. A quick nap to pass the time, and then she could resume pretending to be a sniper. "Why not?" she said to no one. If they hadn't seen any Grimm in this long, why should they show up now?

She scooted to the edge of the branch and leapt, head first, for the ground. A second into the fall, a faint snap pricked her ear. Instinctively, she rammed Patricius' tines into the tree and clutched the shaft, letting her momentum swing her vertical again. Yanking Patricius free at the last instant she sailed directly back to her former perch, dropping flat against the bark.

There. The sound came again, only closer and louder. Gauging the distance, she figured that whatever it was was probably less than a quarter klick out from her position and moving fast. Cycling her trident back into sniper mode, she peered through the scope. It took several long moments, but at last she caught a flicker of movement through the dense tree cover. A flash of black and white dodged between a pair of oaks follow by several similar figures. Her gut told her they were Grimm.

 _Now we're talking. Looks like the little girl got lucky with her guess this time._

Patience auto-loaded a bolt from her clip and adjusted her sights for the distance the rangefinder called. Relatively close range for her, but a moving target with plenty of hard cover. It would be a fun challenge. Her muscles relaxed and she habitually regulated her breathing to keep her aim true. All that was left to do was wait.

Sure enough, a group of Ursas broke from the tree line and into the small clearing, pausing to sniff the air. She lined up her first shot, but a glimmer of light through her scope blinded her momentarily. Shaking her head and blinking through the daze, she tracked her sights around looking for the source. Patience found it almost at once, and her stomach twisted.

Clad in crimson leathers with orange accents, a dark-haired boy waited behind the Ursas, a wicked-looking cat-o-nine tails in his right hand, a small mirror in his left flashing beneath the razor sharp claws he wore. While keeping an eye on the Grimm, he flicked the mirror several times in rapid succession, clearly signaling someone. Patience knew that signal. She knew every signal used by the boy and his teammates.

After all, she had been part of Team DSPR since shortly after her first time in this forest.

"Randolph, you idiot, put away the mirror," she muttered. She lined her crosshairs up over his the part of his forehead visible between branches, barely resisting the temptation to squeeze off a round. She couldn't believe she'd bothered to give this guy what he wanted those first few nights. She'd quickly learned he hadn't been worth playing; he was a raging ball of anger and hormones, not the slightest bit useful unless she needed wanton destruction. And that just wasn't her style.

What was Team DSPR doing here? Dee Jake de Jude, her old team lead, had said the team was going to confine itself to Ever Fall, since most of the other teams favoured Emerald. Grimm hunting was actually better in Ever Fall, and the general lack of truly sizeable Grimm gave Dee Jake an artificial sense of accomplishment—it was easier to tally kills when the critters were smaller. Patience had made more than a few jokes about "size" and "compensation" at his expense because of that. Dee Jake hadn't actually cried in front of her, but she heard his sobs at night and that was enough.

Still, if DSPR were here, something was afoot—something had changed in the seventy-two hours since she'd been taken off their roster. And Patience, being Patience, fully intended to find out.

Sweeping her scope about for another minute, she looked for any signs of the rest of the team. She caught sight of Randolph's combat partner, Pytor Falconi, his hulking form bulling through the brush as he worked to catch up. The Ursas turned to stare at the pair as they entered the clearing, but made no move to attack. In fact, the boys stood unmolested in the midst of the monsters. Patience watched Randolph make some elaborate hand motions, and suddenly the Grimm burst into action, the whole group charging further into the forest.

Almost as though obeying an unspoken command from Randolph.

Patience narrowed her eyes and looked up from her scope. The boys were following the Ursas now. No—not following. _Directing_.

Patience slung Patricius and sprinted along the branch she had perched on. Leaping from there to the branch of another tree, she set out in pursuit. Team DSPR might not be the brightest set of candles, but she knew exactly how mischievous they were. After all, she'd taught them well.

Now it was up to her to stop them.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 (S875)

Several heartbeats after Azure could make out detail through the air rushing by his eyes he brought his feet forward facing the ground. He quickly began absorbing the momentum from his fall, slowing the blurry world back into focus, and finally hitting the ground with a soft thud. The air trailing behind him caught up with him a second later, coughing up a rushing river of debris.

Seconds later, a red firework-like projectile whistled into the air exploded over the treetops, signaling Rin's location. Azure lazily drew the Kusanagi, and began impatiently hacking through the dense shrubbery.

While he didn't mind the forest as a whole, he minded the incessant presence of bugs – Notably mosquitoes. It always felt like they'd prefer him over his peers, so he made it a point remain in constant movement. Of course, there was something magical about Rin that kept the damned things away from her. If he didn't know better, he'd swear up and down that she was erecting some sort of invisible insect barrier.

Only a couple minutes passed when a small flurry of similar-looking firework bolts shot into the air. One, two, three… Azure's gut dropped as he counted the fourth one. Branches flew as he began madly tearing through the brush. Four meant that she was in trouble. Considering that Celeste and Picton weren't around, it was completely up to him to back her up.

Every distant explosion twisted Azure's gut, fueling his panic-driven fury. No matter how much he fought the forest, it just didn't feel like he was making any ground. The idea of being useless pricked at his sweaty hands – He could do better.

With a single jump, he soared through the treetops, frantically and carefully trying to find a place to make the next jump. Several plumes of smoke rising into the air off in the distance took his breath. Whatever was out there was making a mess of the forest. Dangerous as tree jumping was, it was by far many times faster than what he was doing before. All he could do now was hope he could reach her in time.

Before they even got out of the dorm, Picton's gut was already uneasily shifting. He'd pushed Celeste to hurry up, much to her surprise. It was usually her that was issuing orders, not him. By no means did he doubt Azure or Rin – They worked better together than any other pairing he'd had the chance to observe. Was it the state of their relationship? No, the two seemed happy as ever.

Perhaps they ran into trouble? They were supposed to drop at random locations, so that was a possibility, but the Emerald Forest didn't really offer a whole lot of outstandingly dangerous creatures aside from the Nevermores and Deathstalkers. Even if they did run into those particular two monsters, Rin could easily shoot down a Nevermore, and Azure could stand down a Deathstalker as long as he was careful.

The lively atmosphere the path to the launch pads only intensified Picton's unrest. It felt almost as if the chirping birds and the prominent sunshine were trying to hide some sort of disaster.

"Oh… Crap!" shot Celeste as she looked over the cliff into the Emerald Forest.

Picton's guts turned violently as he rushed to her side. Several columns of smoke were rising off in the distance, and a tiny dot that he distinguish as Azure was jumping through over the forest's canopy toward it.

How the heck did they get there? The smoke was coming from a location that the launch pads couldn't have thrown either of them to.

Celeste also quickly made note of this, and anxiously drew La Massicot. "Forget about the pads, just jump! Go! Go!"

And then she was gone. Picton reluctantly stepped to the edge and drew his weapons. To him, there was a distinct difference between being thrown off a cliff and consciously jumping off of one. Naturally, jumping off a cliff spelled death to him, but he still nevertheless crept forward.

He took a deep breath before turning around, and jumping off backwards, flipping several times as he fell. Before the short fall concluded, he spotted his landing zone, held out the Notus, and fired a miniature rocket-like projectile into the ground. It seemed to phase through the ground, before aerating it and turning it into some sort of pillow, cushioning his fall.

To his left was evidence of Celeste's landing area – She'd already gone ahead of him. Realizing he was being left behind, he closed his eyes and put a hand to the ground, letting a burst of his aura enter fly outward. The pulse returned, and he traveled through the recreated textureless terrain in his head, quickly picking out Celeste's figure. Immediately after finding her, he sprinted into the woods, trying to catch up.

Azure landed in the midst of the ravaged forest, and traced the battlefield with the Kusanagi without hesitation, searching for Rin or any of the Grimm.

"Rin!"

Dread crept over his stomach as his call echoed back. Where, where, where could she be? He didn't want to run off in some random direction out of fear that he might be wrong, but he also didn't like standing around.

Another flare-like bolt flew into the air moments later – She was close. He quickly made off toward it, sprinting across the broken trees and charred land. He still had time. She was just through a small set of trees in front of him.

Feeling that something other than Rin was with her, he jumped into the air and raised the Kusanagi, poised to strike.

What the hell is that?!

Several car-sized ants were prosecuting Rin, soaking her barrage of bolts like it was nothing. Azure held the trigger on the Kusanagi and began charging a shot. At the same time, he saturated his weapon with his aura, casting a blue glow across his arm.

DIE.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 6 (Stan Crow)

"Where _is_ she?"

Hope muttered, more to herself than anyone. Outside of class, Patience had an annoying habit of ditching Hope, even during practice. She was, of course, the team's designated scout, but even that seemed like a flimsy excuse for the general lack of communication. Still, when she _did_ report in, her information was solid, relevant, and timely.

 _Maybe I'm just inventing a problem in my mind,_ Hope thought. _Maybe she really_ is _a good person at heart, but just doesn't know how to express it in a way I can understand. Besides, she hasn't actually done anything_ wrong _since joining Team THEO._

No. _Not_ Team THEO. Hope still couldn't get past the fact that _she_ was now a team lead, not to mention the fact that the team had been renamed after her. Glancing to her left she saw Optima and Everest chatting, though their eyes were in constant motion, surveying their surroundings. Optima's mortar sat ready; Everest gripped his moon glaives while doing pushups. Hope knew the pair would act immediately if Patience called in trouble.

 _Not as though we've seen anything in three days. Why did my vision send me here, anyway?_

Atinny voice suddenly crackled in her earpiece. " _Girl,_ " Patience said, " _what I'm looking at will make you need to change your panties. Get the team to the coordinates I'm sending you."_

A set of numbers blinked on map pasted across Hope's personal palmtop computer. The target point was halfway across the Emerald Forest—probably an hour's walk at a minimum. "Um, guys? We need to hurry," she said to her team. "Patience says she found something. It's a bit of a walk to her position.

"Are you guys okay with that?" Optima's answering smile was radiant, but Everest raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, we don't have to. Or, I mean, _you_ don't have to, Everest. I can't _make_ you do  
anything. She's _my_ partner after all. If you two wanted to stay behind—"

"We will all assist our new friend," Everest said calmly, "even if she has no sense of chastity."

Relief flooded through Hope. She was nothing compared to the leader Theresa had been, but seeing the support in her teammate's eyes gave her hope that maybe this might work out after all. "Well, I guess we should run."

She waited for assenting nods before turning and dashing into the forest.

Patience hadn't been exaggerating in her report. A half an hour later, Hope caught her breath as she crouched next to the older girl on a small bluff overlooking a dell on the skirts of the Emerald Forest. Large, cave-pocked hills surrounded three sides of the small valley. Hope swept her binoculars across the gathering, taking in what was at least an entire legion of the soulless creatures. A quick estimate suggested over five hundred Boarbatusks, another three or four hundred Beowolves, nearly six-score Ursas, a quartet of King Taijistus, and a pair of Death Stalkers. Overhead a full half-dozen of the dreaded Nevermores shrouded the entire valley in the shadow of their wings. Strangest of all, ants the size of Ursas weaved in and out through the group.

Standing near the entrance to the valley were four comparatively puny humans.

"What… what are those ant things?"

Patience grunted beside her. "Don't know. And I don't know how they pulled this off, but I've gotta hand it to them." She sounded slightly awed.

"What do you think they're doing?" Hope lowered her field glasses to look at Patience.

"Nothing good, whatever it is. I think this would explain, however, why we haven't run across anything in half a week."

"What...should we do?"

Hope's eyes flicked to each of her teammates in turn, hoping for the answer she knew she didn't have.

Everest looked pensive, but Optima smiled her usual smile. "The element of surprise—it is ours, girly. And we'll be using our upper hand just fine, wait and see."

"Thanks, I think," Hope muttered. Reluctantly, she shot a glance back to Patience.

"Don't look at me like that," the young woman said. "You're the team lead. You figure this out. Besides, tactics is your love child. Mine are way cuter."

Hope's face scrunched. "You have children?"

Patience fought down a guffaw. "Do you really think I'd inflict a brood of people like _me_ on this world? Girl, I got that problem fixed a _long_ time ago. Besides, can you really imagine _me_ as a mother?"

"I've seen worse," Hope said, feeling small. She wasn't sure if she was right, but it was good to be nice.

The weight of the moment pressed on Hope like an angry elephant. Hope had ceased liking elephants when one of them unloaded a pile of dung at her feet during a trip to the zoo at age five. She preferred that situation to this. And yet, an army of Grimm—especially one with a whole new type of creature—was not something she could ignore. She closed her eyes and covered her ears, trying to focus. What was she to do? She had four people—one of whom was barely tested as a teammate—to challenge not only another team, but enough Grimm to wipe out a small town. Tactically, her _only_ advantage was the element of surprise Optima had mentioned.

Beyond that, she clearly needed help.

"Ozpin," she blurted, eyes popping open. "He knows _everything_ that goes on. There's no way he couldn't know about this."

"Except," Patience replied, "for the fact that the static cameras aren't out this far, and the remotes are almost never here either. Ozpin wouldn't have let this kind of a buildup happen if he'd known about it."

Hope's mouth flattened. "Then we're going to have to let him know." And suddenly, a plan of attack formed in her mind.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 (S875)

Even with the Kusanagi's active armor piercing ability enabled, Azure still met fierce resistance when he sank it into the thick head. Even with the blade sticking out of its head, it didn't secure the instant kill that Azure had hoped for. So he released the trigger on the Kusanagi, and let a charged shot ravage its head, causing it to literally explode before him.

Azure jumped to his spot at Rin's side, and shook off some of the clear blood hanging off of his weapon. "So… What're these things?"

"Porter went over these in class a couple months ago. They're Elementas, a somewhat rare species of Grimm. They usually avoid people, but _you_ managed to drop me off next to their nest."

"Hmm… They probably weren't happy about that, were they?" nervously laughed Azure. "Sorry, I didn't drop you there intentionally."

"Nevermind that. They're excellent targets. Have fun, I'll cover."

Rin slowly retreated to safety as Azure remained in his guard stance. He had no intention of making the first move now that they had a lock on him. If they were going to engage in direct combat, he wanted to know what they were capable of first, and hold back the use of his semblance for as long as he could.

Several formed what looked like a firing line formation while the rest crept up on him. Something pricked the back of his head – This kind of organization was unheard of for Grimm. The most they seemed to be capable of was working together on occasion, but this was different.

The advancing ants gradually picked up their pace as they got closer, turning into a stampede by the time they finished accelerating. Azure was taken back by the stampeding wall of armor, and fired a single round into each ant. It didn't have any effect, but moments later a barrage of assorted bolts saturated the rushing legion of ants, enveloping them in a cloud of smoke.

He had signaled Rin for a round of fire – There was just no way he could stand against the stampeding wall of armor. This was different than anything either of them had encountered before. Rin was good at suppressing large amounts of targets, but she had trouble with armor. That was where Azure came in – He could stand up against armored targets, but getting rid of them still took time.

Through the settling dust emerged several football sized bolts of assorted colors. Azure took a sharp breath and leapt to the side just in time for them to crater the ground that he was just standing at. "Rin?! What was that?!"

"That was them! They're casters!"

Delightful. They weren't just well-armored, but they were also capable of outranging and outgunning him. He'd honestly rather be fighting a Deathstalker, because those at least couldn't shoot back at him if he chose to.

The dust continued to settle, revealing a still-standing formation of ants. It stopped them, but most of them still looked relatively untouched. Realizing he had to do something, he began his own charge, targeting an ant on his left missing an antenna.

A burst from the Kusanagi kept the lumbering insect suppressed while he slid under it and raked its belly. To his unpleasant surprise, even that was well-armored. When he made it out the other side, he immediately tried to thrust it into its abdomen, but the armor deflected the strike, letting it slide along it.

Rin had already noticed that even Azure was having trouble with them, and had started bombarding the Elementas opposite from where Azure was to keep him from being overwhelmed. But the firing line in the back had begun to return her shots. It was annoying – Every round they threw at her shook the ground like an artillery shell, forcing her to keep moving. If she concentrated on firing back, then Azure could get stuck in a bad situation without support fire.

Finally, Azure got a break – The legs while still durable, were less armored than the rest of the body. He'd managed to dismember a couple, but his would-be victim had caught on, and was beginning to move. By now, the others had scrambled out of formation, unwilling to give Rin the opportunity to splash them with damage.

With another charged swing, Azure removed the legs off one side of an Elementa, rendering it an immobile platform. Recognizing it was disabled, it switched to trying to fire at Azure with bolts cast from its antennae. Since he wasn't quite comfortable trying to chop those off, he fired a burst into its face, stunning long enough for Rin to bombard it with heavy fire.

"Incoming!" came Rin's voice.

Azure hit the deck, slamming into the ground with his a hand over his head. A flash of light brighter than the sun emerged from one of Rin''s daggers, illuminating the forest. Then a beam of light the diameter of a dust crystal raked across the firing line before disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.

Most of them had been stunned by the sudden burst of firepower, having sustained deep gashes in their armor. But a couple had been outright killed. Rin anxiously searched for a pattern among the dead, trying to figure out what exactly killed them. The two that she eyed had lost their antennas, and had their eyes blown out.

Rin made eye contact with Azure, almost telepathically communicating her findings. He looked over at the corpses, made notes of his own, and then looked back at her. She nodded – Now they could get to work.

But they were cut off by another sudden flurry of attacks. Azure had to put his left hand up against the prying pincers of an ant that had managed to get in his face. Rin fired a round off to cover him, but an incoming shot pushed her out of view.

They had the knowledge, but not the means to take on so many of them.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 (Stan Crow)

The only thing more satisfying than taking down a target that never saw you was taking down a half dozen of his friends, one at a time, in under twenty seconds. Patience lined up another shot while Patricius cycled a bolt from the clip onto the launch rails.

" _Patience_ ," Hope hissed in her earpiece. " _This isn't the plan_! _What are you doing_?"

"Eight," Patience replied, squeezing the trigger, and watching the rocket-propelled bolt pierce a truck-sized Ursa before detonating.

" _Optima barely left to get help. You're only meant to observe and provide cover while Everest and I get footage. We—never mind._ "

Under her crosshairs, the Queen of Fevoreaux saw Grimm beginning to riot. Dee Jake and Pytor scrambled, arms waving, to rein in the monsters. Dee Jake was blasted to the ground by a beowulf that looked ready to eat him. The beast froze suddenly, and Patience's gut clenched when she realized that the rest of the _entire_ mob had instantly come to heel. Randolph jogged along the leading edge of the Grimm horde. As he passed, the soulless animals actually formed ranks. Patience knew of Randolph's freakish animal magnetism, but this was beyond extreme. Grimm did _not_ behave like this.

Quickly surveying their newly dressed lines, Patience caught a glimpse of the olive-skinned Sadiyya Triste crouching, her long rifle swiveling to find the sniper that had attacked her team. Sadiyya might not spot Patience quickly, but neither of Patience's new teammates were as good at hiding; Sadiyya would peg them within the minute; then it was anyone's game.

The girl wasn't known for her restraint.

A stiff breeze swirled Patience's hair. Her heart sank as she realized that it was coming from the direction of Hope and Everest.

"Guys! Bug! Now!" she spat, knowing her throat mike would pick it up clearly. Her warning was too late. The first beowulf bayed as if possessed, and the rest picked up the chorus at once. Patience saw Randolph come alert. His head whipped toward the blind Hope had staked out for surveillance. A heartbeat later, his hand flicked upward and a score of wolves exploded into motion, clods of turf flying behind them. Randolph waved at the rest of the Grimm—who stayed still—and then sprinted after the wolves. Even from her perch Patience could hear Hope's scream.

"Great," she muttered. She tracked the pack and brought four of them down before they made the edge of the dell and crashed into the woods after their prey. A thick branch not two yards away splintered suddenly, and cracked loudly as it bowed earthward.

Patience cursed, shuttering her scope in a flash and going perfectly still. Despite it, the next round struck just low and to her right.

Patience sent clouds into Sadiyya's mind; she only needed to keep them there long enough to get out of the tree.

Rolling off the branch, she let herself drop a full five meters before kicking off the tree to alter course. Patricius zipped into trident mode and tore a trio of gashes on the next tree as Patience slowed her descent to something at least marginally survivable.

She hit the sod running and careened in the direction of the wolf pack. She couldn't care less about Hope or Everest as individuals—she barely knew them—but if she had learned nothing else from the nuns, it was a sense of the sanctity of life and the value of loyalty.

She ignored the fact that she'd already screwed the pooch with regards to Hope's "wait and see" tactics. Maybe the redhead would feel better if Patience saved her bacon.

Branches whipped past her as she ducked, dodged, and twisted through the bowels of Emerald Forest. A shout sounded behind her but she didn't look; she'd recognize Dee Jake's voice anywhere. The noises of pursuit were sufficiently loud and clumsy to indicate Pytor was probably trying to keep up. She'd lose them in under a minute at this rate even without mind clouds.

Then it hit her—these guys were her teammates. Or at least they had been until three days ago when Ozpin had torn her from them and stuck her with the rat pack of Team HOPE. Why bother with the cloak and dagger stuff when she could just _ask_ them what they were up to? Skidding to a halt at the top of a ridge, she planted Patricius in the ground and leaned casually against a nearby tree. A little body language in the conversation, and she'd have the whole story in ten seconds flat.

A lithe black boy in ebon leathers trimmed with lavender burst into view, nearly colliding with Patience. Whole seconds later, a bear of a lad in gray stumbled into his team lead, nearly knocking the braided-haired boy off his feet. Dee Jake straightened and shoved Pytor away, glaring at him. He turned a curious gaze on Patience."Whatcha doin' here, Patty?"

"I could ask you the same thing she said," idly examining her nails. Dee Jake hadn't been as easy to charm as the other males on the team, but she'd caught him looking on several carefully engineered occasions. He'd spill with a little persuasion.

"Our business is ours, traitor," Pytor growled.

"You wound me, Pete," she replied, invoking the special moniker she'd given him while convincing him he might just have a chance with her. "You know I wouldn't up and leave you boys," she cooed. "Blame Ozpin for that."

"I be blamin' Ozpin for a lotta tings." Dee Jake's accent thickened as his gaze darkened. "And he'll be payin' for dem tings soon."

"Oh?" Patience said, forcing a light tone despite her hammering heart. "What things?"

"Well," Dee Jake started. He didn't get to finish.

A hollow point punched through Patience's flank and went to work on her innards. She was jerked off balance, and tumbled violently from the ridge before going weightless for a moment. Then she hit dirt, and her world went black.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 (S875)

Azure's arm burned with the heat of exerting his aura against the pincers of his foe as he thrust the Kusanagi toward the eyes of his foe. But a rough plate of armor smashed into his side, bringing his feet off the ground.

A brief spell of panic overtook Azure as he returned to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. That one really hurt - He was lucky his ribs were still intact. An instant later, a blurry shadow loomed over him, and he instinctively rolled to the side in time for a spiny leg to stomp the ground.

Before a second foot came down, he blindly swung the Kusanagi around him, dismembering a couple legs, giving him the opportunity to crawl out and bound backward onto the back of his nearly-disabled opponent.

But a red-hot bolt forced him backward, and a small squad of Elementas rushed around their wounded comrade, spitting an assortment of dust-charged death at him. Every bolt splintered trees or shook the ground, making it horribly difficult for him to figure out his bearings.

As difficult as it was not to get smacked by the incoming fire, he just didn't feel comfortable enough turning his back around to run at full speed. Above anything else, he needed some distance, and to find Rin. Of course knowing his luck, something stupid would happen when they got one of the rare opportunities to train outside of the supervision of their leader.

Several scenarios flew through his head - They obviously couldn't win in conventional combat. If they managed to regroup, they'd just draw the full brunt of the enraged Elementas, which would easily overwhelm them with standard combat. What they needed was something that could decisively turn things back in their favor.

At the corner of his eye, a glint of metal tore through the open sky - One of Rin's daggers. He almost couldn't believe it - That was _the_ call to bring to front a uniquely devastating move. But why?

 _Crowd control._

The thought echoed in his head for a few seconds as he jumped to catch the weapon. A hair before it reached his fingertips, a flak-like explosion of fire ruptured the air, throwing it into the forest. Inconvenient as it was, Azure turned around and quickly dove for its estimated landing point, disappearing into the dense shrubbery.

Rin was unamused, and rather unhappy at how the battle was going for her. These damned Elementas were causing her more trouble than they were worth, and to make matters worse, she could feel the faint presence of the team's 'leader' approaching with haste.

Chances to practice without Celeste's supervision were usually few and far between, so the idea of being interrupted by her held a slight disappeal. If they were to enjoy practicing alone, they'd need to think fast.

But the constant barrage of fire made concentrating on anything other than trying to not get blasted significantly more difficult than it had to be. It was exhausting and irritating having to spend as much effort trying to keep them at bay as she did running away. Azure was supposed to be the one keeping preventing them from encroaching on her, not herself.

Not only was she not making much progress, it was becoming prohibitively expensive to continue firing. Retreating wasn't a choice she wanted to consider. Capable as Azure was, there was no way he could cleave his way through that much armor and firepower.

Another blast derailed her train of thought, and shot an irritated scowl at her unyielding attackers. That was enough. She caught a glimpse of Azure getting flaked and threw one of her daggers in his direction, sheathing herself with her aura as she did.

Her aura flooded the remaining dagger, and a purple glyph-decorated circle surrounded her, illuminating her. The charging Elementas ceased, and whatever remaining shots washed over her aura, spraying the surrounding area with elemental fire.

The standoff continued for several seconds. Where the hell was Azure? Did he not see the dagger? No, he definitely must have. The bugs must've gotten in his way. A renewed barrage of attacks rippled the barrier, pushing her aura closer and closer to the red.

Celeste and Picton were thrown off their feet as the earth violently shook the forest, showering the floor with leaves. That had to be Azure and Rin - She could feel it. Rising above the treetops was a massive column of debris, with a pair of glowing lights rising with it.

That smelled like something Azure and Rin could do, but she'd never seen it before. What were they fighting that could've demanded the use of such an attack? She answered that question when she passed a ravaged Elementa corpse, barely recognizing its species.

"Celeste, stop!" yelled Picton a second too late.

She smashed into a barely noticeable clear shimmering wall at the edge of the column falling backward in her confusion.

Picton helped her up, brushing dirt off her as she stood up. "Don't even try, we can't punch through it with brute force."

It really did look that way as she panned over it with her semblance. There weren't any weak points, and even if they could get inside, she didn't like the idea of fighting in the apparently zero-gravity environment they were in.

The timing and the barrier erected by this attack felt… Too convenient, as if they were intended to lock them out. But why? They were teammates, and the whole point of them coming here was to practice as a unit.

Picton quickly turned around with his guard up. "Incoming…"

An Elementa the size of a truck crashed through the brush with a small entourage of smaller Elementas, and stopped as they caught sight of her. Definitely, bad news. Picton couldn't pound armor whatsoever, and her own abilities were somewhat limited.

She raised La Massicot in defiance, and shot the Elementas a hard look. "Stand your ground, Picton."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 (Stan Crow)

"Run!" Hope glanced behind her to verify that Everest was keeping up. Despite his short stature, the young man was gaining on her, a blur of white steel in the midst of the forest. Confident she wasn't abandoning her teammate, she looked forward again.

Just in time to be clotheslined by a low branch.

Everest was at her side in an instant, hauling her to her feet as though she were a rag doll. He released her before she was fully upright and whipped a moon glaive up between her and a charging beowulf. The force of the impact drove Everest back a full yard; Hope knew it would have buried her. Even in the midst of his slide Everest seized the beast by the throat and hurled it to the ground. In a single motion, he severed its head with another moon glaive.

Hope yanked Nash from her back, holding the axe-bladed guitar by the neck, ready to strike. A faint feeling brushed her mind and she side-stepped a breath before a pair of wolves crashed past her on her right. Nash flashed as it came around, embedding itself in the shoulder of one wolf and severing its spine. Its companion leapt over it and blasted her to the ground with a swipe to the face. Her wounds began healing almost at once, but her aura had never been particularly good at rapid regeneration. She blocked several more strikes with Nash, but was clearly getting the worse end of the fight—until she managed to stick the business end of her shotgun in the monster's chest. Two rounds, it was down.

Scrambling to her feet, she fended off two more beowolves, noticing that Everest was dealing with three. "This isn't going to work," she yelled. "We need elevation!"

Everest nodded sharply, and then leapt past Hope and into the midst of a cluster of wolves. Several landed hits, but his armor held. Then he was a whirlwind of cold steel and fury, tossing aside the Grimm like refuse. Hope saw the opening at once, and scampered to Everest, and then ran up his bowed back and leapt for the nearest tree. Nash's blade bit deep into the trunk, giving her enough leverage to flip herself atop the makeshift perch. Jerking Nash out from under her own feet, she pulled the trigger repeatedly, the shotgun blast thrusting her up into the waiting arms of outstretched branches.

Below, Everest had gone down under a dog pile of Grimm.

"No!" Hope aimed for a leap toward the group, but the mound of animal flesh exploded upward, and Everest flew free from the scrum riding a shockwave that carried flying limbs and fur. He landed a short distance away, staggered a few steps, and tottered to one knee. Hope unloaded a clip to give him cover, downing two of the beowolves and wounding another pair.

Suddenly, it was over. Without warning, the creatures turned and fled. Hope peppered them with some parting rounds, earning a few yelps, but it was clear the fight had ended. As she dropped to the ground, she caught a glimpse of a young man in angry red leathers sprinting away. By the time Hope had touched dirt and crossed to Everest, a Nevermore screamed overhead.

"Look out!" she cried. But the gargantuan raptor plummeted into the forest some distance away, only to rise again moments later, leaving them unmolested.

Confident the danger had passed, Hope knelt by her companion. "Everest, you're going to be okay. I promise."

Her swarthy teammate grimaced, but nodded. "Your decision to climb the tree was a wise one. I only wish our opponents had granted me that same courtesy." He pushed himself to his feet, but collapsed after a stumbling step.

"Don't try to move. I'm recalling Optima. We can report to Professor Ozpin later."

"Calm yourself, my friend," Everest said. "My mother trained me well in the healing arts. A few minutes, and I will be fit to travel again. Though I will not be winning any races.

"Now," he added, "Let us examine the footage we obtained."

Hope helped Everest into a comfortable position, sighing at his stubbornness, and quickly contacted Optima. Satisfied that the teams' main healer was backtracking, she removed her camera from her belt and watched the footage several times—no surprises. Just Team DSPR running around the Grimm, which did not chew them to pieces. Then, something flashed in Hope's mind.

"Wait—look at that again." They slow-reversed the video to where the boy in red was jogging in front of the Grimm's lines. There, in his belt, was a small figurine. It glinted as if with small jewels or metal inlay, but the footage was too raw to make out fine details. One more thing was for certain, however—the figurine seemed to glow ever so slightly. The glow matched the young man's manifestation of aura surrounding the hand he used to gesture at the army of beasts.

"What do you think that is?" Hope asked.

"Difficult to tell. But I suspect it is no mere trinket."

"Agreed."

Hope's thoughts were interrupted by another, more distant screech from the Nevermore. In the middle distance, she saw snatches of the thing rising through the trees again, and then turning in what seemed to be the direction of Beacon.

"That can't be good," she said, standing. "We need to assemble the team and report our findings ASAP." She uploaded the footage to her personal drive, and shot the file back to her personal computer on campus, carbon copying it to Professor Porter, the resident zoologist.

"I do believe I can stand now," Everest said, levering himself up. He looked slightly unsteady on his feet, but he waved off Hope's efforts to help. "Come. Let us meet our friend Optima halfway."

"Right," Hope said. "And… where did Patience go?"

At the question, she felt her innards turn to ice. "Oh no," she muttered. "This won't end well."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 (S875)

Explosions thundered overhead in the floating labyrinth while Celeste and Picton clashed against the Elementas. They'd figured early on that it was best for Picton to harass the ones acting as artillery platforms, but that left Celeste to fend for herself, which was rough even with Picton keeping the fire off her.

Just by looking at them she could tell that the eyes and the antennae were thinly armored, but they weren't easy to exploit with the pressure they kept on her. A shiver ran down her back as she backed up into the invisible barrier.

Why of all times would her teammates perform such a restricting move? Capable as Azure and Rin might be, there was no way they'd perform such a move unless they had absolutely had to. They were here to help, not to attack them!

The lumbering soldier-class Elementa suddenly rushed through the pack with an unforeseen burst of speed. Celeste prepared to counterattack as it smashed into the invisible wall, but her heart stopped as it almost instantaneously lined up a shot on her.

 _What?!_

A ball of fire engulfed her, and she felt herself scraping across the forest floor, stopping short of a boulder. She clenched her teeth in pain as she scrambled to her feet, doubling back through the trail of dust she left behind. Weak points or not, she had to counterattack to keep it off-balance. If that thing landed a few more hits like that, she'd be done for.

When she emerged out of the smoke, she ran underneath its belly and swung La Massicot at the undersides of its knees. Its armor gave away, but her cut didn't run deep enough. Her breath escaped her as she slid into the reach of another two Elementas camping on the other side.

There was no time - She couldn't turn or dodge. One of them batted her to the side just as she raised La Massicot to block. She tumbled across the ground as a small barrage of artillery rocked the ground.

Celeste coughed as she got up and realized how far she'd been tossed. It literally felt as if she had no time to breath - Only minutes after they'd engaged, she was feeling short on breath. If she could get underneath the soldier again, she could probably severe a set of legs, but she couldn't imagine getting close without getting intercepted by its entourage.

Picton was having just as much trouble as Celeste was. It helped that they couldn't keep him locked for more than a moment, but the fact that there were so many of them kept him from lining up good strikes against them.

Worse yet, it felt like they were getting gradually better and better at tracking him, as if they were communicating between each other to coordinate their attacks. Of course he couldn't know for sure, but the only way he could curb the possibility was to finish them, which was a challenge with his weapons.

Neither his forearm blade the Notus or his short sword Boreas was designed to penetrate armor, making direct combat ineffective. Instead he was forced to strike the weak points, as instructed by Celeste - The antennae, and the eyes.

But he couldn't bide his time waiting for a good shot at them, otherwise they'd start shooting at Celeste, who was clearly having problems of her own. As blue particles began swirling around the antennae of a nearby Elementa, he dove out of the shrubbery and vaulted up its legs onto its back. It tried to shake him off, but he was quick on his feet and was able to amputate its antennae, causing the enormous bug to crumble to the ground.

The others were quick to react, and unleashed a burst of bolts at him, not caring at all that they were destroying the corpse of one of their comrades. Bits of splintered armor rattled his aura as he returned to cover.

 _That's very bad news…_

A peek at his personal monitor indicated that his aura was down to just over 50% - He had to be more careful. But how much more careful could he get? Letting Celeste get shot wasn't an option, but nor was his current approach. They seemed to take no issue with turning their dead into giant grenades, so every strike was a roll of the dice.

With a few seconds of patience, he identified two Elementas that had split from the artillery group to stand as guards. Before giving it a second thought, Picton pulled the pin out of a smoke grenade, and slid it into the forest through the cover of the trees. Almost immediately both guards were on it - That was his cue.

Picton rushed toward a couple that were a bit too close to each other, and once more leapt onto one of their backs. Instead of cutting the antennae, he slashed both eyes with the Boreas, and jumped to the head of the second one, punching the Notus into one of its eyes. As it collapsed to the ground, he hide behind it in time for the corpse of the first Elementa to explode.

Thankfully, they didn't see him duck behind their second fallen comrade, giving him time to scope out the rest. There weren't many left - Less than a dozen including the soldier remained. The air in his lungs shook as an thunderous boom rocked the forest.

The soldier and its entourage had gotten momentum against her, and were pushing her into the middle of an open field where the rest of the battery could fire on her. He jumped over the fresh corpse, and slashed at every Elementa he passed, hoping to cause chaos. Several turned to attack him, but the others continued charging bolts to fire simultaneously at her.

His gut dropped - That was it. There was nothing more he could do to help his teammate. "CELESTE! INCOMING!"


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 13 (S875)

Explosions thundered overhead in the floating labyrinth while Celeste and Picton clashed against the Elementas. They'd figured early on that it was best for Picton to harass the ones acting as artillery platforms, but that left Celeste to fend for herself, which was rough even with Picton keeping the fire off her.

Just by looking at them she could tell that the eyes and the antennae were thinly armored, but they weren't easy to exploit with the pressure they kept on her. A shiver ran down her back as she backed up into the invisible barrier.

Why of all times would her teammates perform such a restricting move? Capable as Azure and Rin might be, there was no way they'd perform such a move unless they had absolutely had to. They were here to help, not to attack them!

The lumbering soldier-class Elementa suddenly rushed through the pack with an unforeseen burst of speed. Celeste prepared to counterattack as it smashed into the invisible wall, but her heart stopped as it almost instantaneously lined up a shot on her.

 _What?!_

A ball of fire engulfed her, and she felt herself scraping across the forest floor, stopping short of a boulder. She clenched her teeth in pain as she scrambled to her feet, doubling back through the trail of dust she left behind. Weak points or not, she had to counterattack to keep it off-balance. If that thing landed a few more hits like that, she'd be done for.

When she emerged out of the smoke, she ran underneath its belly and swung La Massicot at the undersides of its knees. Its armor gave away, but her cut didn't run deep enough. Her breath escaped her as she slid into the reach of another two Elementas camping on the other side.

There was no time - She couldn't turn or dodge. One of them batted her to the side just as she raised La Massicot to block. She tumbled across the ground as a small barrage of artillery rocked the ground.

Celeste coughed as she got up and realized how far she'd been tossed. It literally felt as if she had no time to breath - Only minutes after they'd engaged, she was feeling short on breath. If she could get underneath the soldier again, she could probably severe a set of legs, but she couldn't imagine getting close without getting intercepted by its entourage.

Picton was having just as much trouble as Celeste was. It helped that they couldn't keep him locked for more than a moment, but the fact that there were so many of them kept him from lining up good strikes against them.

Worse yet, it felt like they were getting gradually better and better at tracking him, as if they were communicating between each other to coordinate their attacks. Of course he couldn't know for sure, but the only way he could curb the possibility was to finish them, which was a challenge with his weapons.

Neither his forearm blade the Notus or his short sword Boreas was designed to penetrate armor, making direct combat ineffective. Instead he was forced to strike the weak points, as instructed by Celeste - The antennae, and the eyes.

But he couldn't bide his time waiting for a good shot at them, otherwise they'd start shooting at Celeste, who was clearly having problems of her own. As blue particles began swirling around the antennae of a nearby Elementa, he dove out of the shrubbery and vaulted up its legs onto its back. It tried to shake him off, but he was quick on his feet and was able to amputate its antennae, causing the enormous bug to crumble to the ground.

The others were quick to react, and unleashed a burst of bolts at him, not caring at all that they were destroying the corpse of one of their comrades. Bits of splintered armor rattled his aura as he returned to cover.

 _That's very bad news…_

A peek at his personal monitor indicated that his aura was down to just over 50% - He had to be more careful. But how much more careful could he get? Letting Celeste get shot wasn't an option, but nor was his current approach. They seemed to take no issue with turning their dead into giant grenades, so every strike was a roll of the dice.

With a few seconds of patience, he identified two Elementas that had split from the artillery group to stand as guards. Before giving it a second thought, Picton pulled the pin out of a smoke grenade, and slid it into the forest through the cover of the trees. Almost immediately both guards were on it - That was his cue.

Picton rushed toward a couple that were a bit too close to each other, and once more leapt onto one of their backs. Instead of cutting the antennae, he slashed both eyes with the Boreas, and jumped to the head of the second one, punching the Notus into one of its eyes. As it collapsed to the ground, he hide behind it in time for the corpse of the first Elementa to explode.

Thankfully, they didn't see him duck behind their second fallen comrade, giving him time to scope out the rest. There weren't many left - Less than a dozen including the soldier remained. The air in his lungs shook as an thunderous boom rocked the forest.

The soldier and its entourage had gotten momentum against her, and were pushing her into the middle of an open field where the rest of the battery could fire on her. He jumped over the fresh corpse, and slashed at every Elementa he passed, hoping to cause chaos. Several turned to attack him, but the others continued charging bolts to fire simultaneously at her.

His gut dropped - That was it. There was nothing more he could do to help his teammate. "CELESTE! INCOMING!"


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 (S875)

Celeste managed to give Picton a panicked looked before he was struck to the ground again, but there was nothing she could do in her power to avoid the earthshaking barrage.

The next thing she knew, there was ringing in her ears, she couldn't tell up from down, her vision was a blurry mess, and she felt as if she'd just been run over by a steamroller. But she was still somehow still on her feet, leaning against La Massicot.

Though she couldn't detect Picton normally, her gut twisted as if it knew that he was in danger. Without a moment of hesitation, she used what little remained of her aura to purge her senses, giving her just enough agility to avoid yet another crushing blow from the soldier.

Where could he be? It didn't help that his semblance made him undetectable, nor did the smaller Elementas trying to blast her. She cleaved her way through several of them before finally catching sight of him stumbling to his feet against a tree. It was just too hot - Another minute or two, and their auras would be at absolute zero. "Picton! Retreat and regroup!"

"Roger!"

Seconds after she made it to Picton, the earth shook violently, nearly throwing her off balance. But this felt different - Debris and fire wasn't flying at her or Picton's face, yet the ground continued to tremble.

She gasped as she looked over her shoulder - The column of rocks and dirt that Azure and Rin had concocted was falling out of the sky. Did they lose? Did Rin run out of dust? Against her instinct to survive, she wheeled around and charged back into the soldier that was still in pursuit of her. No way she was going to leave them, or anyone for dead again.

"Celeste, what are you doing?! Don't do it!" shrieked Picton.

Forget what he or her instinct said - She'd rather perish than have to carry their body bags back to Beacon.

The sound of metal slicing through armor stopped the soldier dead in its tracks, and and a river of bolts homed in on the back of its head, finally collapsing the oversized bug. Celeste sighed in relief as she saw Rin falling out of the sky while strafing the remaining Elementas like a bomber.

When she landed, the Emerald Forest finally returned to silence - They'd won. Azure slid off the side of the soldier and crumbled to the ground in exhaustion. Rin hobbled to Azure and brought him to his feet, letting him lean on her shoulder. A look at her monitor indicated that both were sitting just over 25% - Better than her and Picton, but not by a whole lot.

"And just what took you two so long?" panted Rin.

Celeste resisted the urge to lash out at her for locking her and Picton out, and instead gritted her teeth. "Worry about that later, we're leaving before more of them show up."

Everyone limped away in silence, not eager to discuss what had just happened. While they were climbing back up the hill to Beacon, Celeste let go of the idea that Rin and Azure deliberately locked them out. Throwing such an accusation at them wasn't going to be good for the team even if she was right, since she didn't have the proof to back it up.

 _Damned bugs_ , thought Azure to himself. What sick force managed to twist something as innocent as ants into these thick-skulled, dust-wielding, bull-charging MACHINES? They were absolutely merciless! Unyielding! Even in that physics-defying column, they still managed to make his and Rin's lives miserable.

Jumping between platforms should've been a joy, but these bugs had managed to saturate the skies with their dust-charged flak, making it tremendously more dangerous and unpleasant to perform. If he never had to see those things again, he'd be happy.

On the other hand, Rin was trying to figure out how to better attack them if they encountered them again. They had clearly underestimated them from the start, which was stupid considering Porter had specifically instructed the class to beware of them.

Conventional fighting wasn't going to work, and the hexagram probably ended up doing almost as much damage to them as it did to the Elementas. Their base stats weren't the problem - That soldier that Azure finished off couldn't compete with a Deathstalker or a Nevermore. It was the overwhelming numbers that got the better of them.

The moves they'd already designed for crowd control weren't going to work - They were designed for use against large numbers of _unarmored_ targets, like Beowolves or Ursi. Dust wasn't cheap, but it could certainly get the job done if she wasn't stingy with it.

The walking trains of thought continued their way into Beacon, blindly following each other into the dorm to change out of their tattered clothing.

Celeste sighed as she changed into a fresh set of clothes. They performed as two independent cells more than a team, which made it rather difficult back there. It was almost as if Rin and Azure _preferred_ to fight on their own, which was probably true considering their extensive service record with each other. Simply telling them that they needed to work as a team wasn't going to pull them together - She needed to prove to them that working together was effective.

Even as they crossed into the cafeteria, Celeste was still lost in her thoughts. Azure and Rin must not work well as individuals if they were that attached to each other. If she could remind them what it was like to fight on their own, maybe that'd convince them to come together. Sure, it was just 1V1 sparring, but if they lost, it might convince them to rethink what might happen to the Grimm. "I've got news for everyone."

Everyone turned their attention to her.

"We're committing to the sparring tournament."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16 (Stan Crow)

The echo of her knock on Team CAPR's dorm room door felt resounded in her ears a though Death himself were knocking at her door. Could she really do this? How had she let Patience talk her into this? The people on the other side of the door had blown her off after she'd extended a hand of friendship just days ago. Why in the _world_ would they want to potentially risk their lives to help her now?

"There, now, Girly," Optima whispered soothingly beside her. "We'll be fine. I think they'll be helping us if they know the truth."

Hope turned a shaky smile on her teammate. "Thanks, Optima. I'm just glad Patience is okay. Thanks for healing her as well. She should have died."

"I've solved worse than that," the other girl said with a wink.

Hearing nothing from behind the door, Hope knocked again, reviewing the speech Patience had dictated to her when the team had reunited late on Thursday after their ordeal in the forest. No one had debriefed them, and the few teachers they were able to talk to either downplayed the allegations or were too busy to listen in the first place. Hope had even talked to four other teams, against Patience's suggestion, before coming to Team CAPR's room. None of them offered anything more than well wishes.

"Well," Hope said after a bare second had passed, "I guess no one is home."

"Patience, girl," Optima said. "We barely got here. It'll be fine."

"Patience is who got us into this mess," Hope muttered.

"You are our team lead now, Hope," the tall girl said solemnly. "Responsibility is ultimately yours. For all of us."

Hope sighed. "I hope this works out."

As if to answer her question, the door cracked open suddenly, and a beautiful young woman with Asian features peered through the opening. The door shut again immediately, and Hope turned a frown toward her friend. Before she could say anything, however, the door opened again, and a tall, willow-thin girl with sandy-blond hair peered out at them. It was Team CAPR's lead. Celeste, if Hope remembered right.

"Good evening," Hope begin, praying her nervousness wasn't coming through too clearly in her voice. "Remember me from breakfast the other day?"

Celeste smiled politely, but Hope saw hesitation in her eyes. When the other girl nodded slightly, Hope took the signal to continue.

"We," and she struggled to remember the careful, beautiful way Patience had phrased things, "have heard of your bold moves inside your dorm room and out."

Hope groaned inside and Celeste raised her eyebrows. Where had she come up with such a stupid phrase? "I mean, your exploits in combat are already legendary here at Beacon, even rivaling some of the fourth year students."

The blonde girl—and Hope wished she could be even half as pretty—looked dubious now, and Hope knew she only had one chance left. Tossing aside the rehearsed speech, she let herself shine through.

"Look, there's a super big problem and nobody believes it exists. Professor Ozpin is gone, and the other professors think we're children. Even other teams are too busy to give us a hand. You were nice to me, the other day, and I really, _really_ need some help. Can we please talk for a few minutes?"

Celeste's eyes widened, but she stepped back and gestured into the room.

"Thank you," Hope said, feeling the beginnings of tears.

The dorm room was immaculate. The Asian girl was on her back in bed, pointedly avoiding Hope's gaze. Dark circles hung below her eyes, and she had visible bruises. A boy with similar features lie on the bed across from her; he looked to be asleep. Hope swept her eyes to find the fourth team member. She found him on a bed set apart from the others, his tall, well-muscled body stretched luxuriously on his mattress. His tousled brown hair seemed to rustle in a non-existent breeze. When his navy eyes met hers she felt her heart flutter. Before she could think on it further, Optima nudged her.

"Right," Hope said, coughing lightly and returning her attention to her hostess. "Are you familiar with Team DSPR? Led by Dee Jake De Jude?"

"Why wouldn't we be?" the Asian girl called, her tone biting.

"Of course," Celeste cut in, shooting a look at her comrade. "Why?"

Hope swallowed and looked at the ground, wondering how to say this. Finally, she decided it was best to just spit it out. "We—we think they're building an army of Grimm."

The Asian girl laughed, and pulled her pillow over her face. The cute guy actually sat up.

"And what makes you think that?" Celeste asked.

"We saw them. In the forest. Earlier today. I got footage of it but no one seems interested in seeing it. I've got it right here with me," she added eagerly. "Can I please show it to you?"

"Well," Celeste hedged, waving at her team, "as you can see we've had quite the day. We were, ahem, separated," and she said the word with deliberate volume, "just ahead of some combat with unexpected foes. Victory was inescapable, of course, but not easy."

"Just five minutes, please." Hope stared into the other girl's face, hoping for a minor miracle. Celeste hemmed, and looked back at her teammates. Only Cute Guy was paying any attention. At a nod from him, Celeste relented, her shoulder dropping slightly.

"Very well. Five minutes."

Twenty three minutes later, Hope and Optima emerged from CAPR's dorm room. As soon as they were out of sight of the door, Optima wrapped Hope in a hug.

"I can't believe we did it!" Hope squealed. She'd laid all her cards on the table and somehow— somehow—it had been enough to persuade Team CAPR to lend their aid. Now, they actually stood a chance of success.

Oh, and Cute Guy talked to her more than once.

Her hopes had been more than gratified.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 (S875)

The shock of committing to the sparring tournament wore off as the matter was discussed. Though sparring was hardly the same as killing Grimm, it was of significantly greater difficulty, which appealed greatly to Rin and Azure. If they could defeat a sentient, intelligent, human on equal terms in combat, then they could outsmart and outplay any Grimm they'd encounter in the future.

Almost as much of a surprise was the unexpected visit from Team HOPE at their dorm several days later. Even in their sleep, everyone was figuring out how they were going to tackle the problem of an army of Grimm.

Picton knew from the start that he was going to get dispatched to perform reconnaissance - It was what he did best. There was Patience, who probably could've done just as good as a job as he, but she had been wounded in their first encounter. Assuming Team DSPR took to the forest after class, he could slip out of class literally unnoticed and trail them to wherever they were hiding.

But considering that Patience had already compromised their position, they might expect to be trailed, and as a result hidden their army elsewhere. If that was the case, then he would have to perform an exhaustive search of the forest, which would easy with the use of Pulse. There wasn't a chance that anybody or anything could spot him in the midst of the forest. His feet were swift, his hands were steady, and more often than not, he was the last thing his enemies never saw.

Azure woke up at the mention of an Elementa in the middle of the conversation. At first he thought he'd been captured, since he didn't quite recognize Hope's voice. Rin's gaze put him to rest, but upon listening further, his interest peaked.

An army of Grimm including Elementas? That sounded like the perfect opportunity to have fun _and_ have a chance at a round 2 against Elementas. Excitement simmered in his chest at the very thought of steamrolling through them with Rin. Sure, they'd be overwhelmed if other people didn't help, but if there were as many as Hope said there were, then there'd be plenty of Grimm to go around.

Rin was less than enthusiastic at the mention of an army. Worst-case, a brawl would break out with CAPR and HOPE on one side, and DSPR and an army on the other. It'd be awfully expensive to be suppressing an entire army, not to mention incredibly dangerous to do so. Unless someone on HOPE specialized in ranged attacks like she did, she'd end up being the one shooting down the Nevermores.

But how was she supposed to do that on top of being shot at by Elementas and whatever else tries to bum rush her? There was no way she could expect Azure to hold off that many Grimm. They'd have one shot at the battle ahead of them - If things went badly, retreat wasn't going to be easy.

Celeste was delighted by how receptive the rest of her team had been to Hope. Even Azure and Rin offered their insights, and seemed willing to help. More so Azure than Rin, but it was better than anything she'd been able to get out of them. Picton was the quietest of them, but he at least seemed to be paying attention.

Getting them together was a good start. She'd told Picton to monitor Randolph after class, and all she needed to do now was wait.

Following Randolph wasn't as interesting as Picton thought it'd be. He ate, practiced, and did everything any other person would do. Pulse didn't reveal anything on his person that was out of the ordinary. The only thing that somewhat stood out was the walk he took on his own around the courtyard, but there wasn't anything of interest in there.

Did they even have the right guy? Had Hope not presented the video footage, he'd be calling this a hoax. Their dorm room was oddly decorated mess, but DSPR wasn't paying any particular attention to anything.

Curfew wasn't that far off. It wasn't necessarily an RTB for him, but after they fell asleep there'd be no point in any more surveillance. Another pulse returned to him, and his heart skipped a beat - Patience was at their door.

What for? Nobody mentioned this would happen. Patience was a member of DSPR until not long ago so there was the possibility she was working with them. However, it wouldn't make sense for her to agree to attacking people she was working for, unless of course she was intending to betray them later.

 _Der'mo._

Randolph and Patience left the room. He stood up in the bushes outside the dorms, and repositioned to the courtyard they exited to. As much as he wanted to get within hearing range, he couldn't bring himself to take the risk of being detected.

 _That's right, keep walking…_

They were heading to the launch pads in the forest. If they jumped, he'd have to follow. There was too much distance between them and everyone else for him to run back and alert them. But instead of doing what he was expecting, they merely sat on the ridge like a couple.

He rolled his eyes as a romance scene unfolded before him. A half hour passed, and both returned to the dorm. How frustratingly unproductive.

Picton decided against searching the forest in the cover of night - If something went wrong, he'd have no backup.

"Patience decided to pay Randolph a visit. Did anybody know about this?" announced Picton as he entered his dorm.

Celeste sat up in surprise. "What?"

"They were talking on the ridge on top of the forest. Go figure. I would talk to Hope if I were you before we continue. It's starting to feel like we're being set up."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 (Stan Crow)

As she neared the launch cliff, Patience absently wondered several things. First, she wondered just how nervous she was making her new allies; there was a reason she'd convinced Hope and Optima to make the sales pitch to CAPR in her stead. Second, she wondered whether eight teenagers without the support of the powers-that-be would actually be able to fend off a legion of demonic monsters if it should come to that. Third, she wondered just how far Randolph would try to go tonight. Enticing him to spend alone time had been a snap, of course—she knew he was interested. He proved it, just then, by wrapping his arm around her waist and tugging her closer.

"Why'd you pick _this_ spot?" he asked as they stopped at the edge of the cliff, looking into twilight. "I can think of more secluded spots than the launch pads," he said against her neck, "if you know what I mean."

She knew exactly what he meant, but she also knew Team CAPR's leader would ensure Randolph was followed since he was the one who'd been seen with the glowing figurine. Team CAPR's tracker, Picton, possessed uncanny observational abilities. The fact that she could neither see nor hear him was simply proof of how skilled he was. But the sixth sense she'd developed on the streets of Fevoreaux told her he probably had a pretty good view of her little show.

She didn't trust Picton's judgment despite his abilities. Seeing wasn't the same as knowing what you were looking at. And that was why she had hit Randolph with a double helping of her charm and a few of the right poses—all seemingly natural, of course. She'd get more out of five minutes of discussion with Randolph than Picton would from five hours of surveying the kid.

And so she was here, letting Randolph think he had a chance. She sat patiently for an hour while he physically expressed his affection, feeling his hot, fetid breath in her hair and on her neck. His hands were on her knees for now, and he was spouting some drivel about how he'd been so afraid when Sadiyya shot her, and how he would have died if Patience had, blah, blah, blah. She responded with a lie about how she hated Ozpin for stripping her from her team—and Randolph—and throwing her in with a group of sissies. If only she could change teams again…

And then he said something interesting when he pulled away from a long kiss. "When we rule this school, it'll just be you and me, baby."

"And when will that be," she purred, playing her part. It was sickening how easy he was to manipulate, but now it was paying off.

"Tomorrow night."

Patience sat up straight. " _Tomorrow_?"

Randolph looked at her strangely, then blushed. "Oh, yeah. Um… this all sorta happened after you left. You know those plans we were making to take over the place? The day Ozpin stole you was the day we finally figured out how. We just wanted to make sure everything was set before we brought you in on it."

"And just what is 'it'?" she asked casually, walking her fingers up his arm and seeing him shudder.

"Let's not worry about that tonight," he said, upping his antics.

She wished he knew what a toothbrush was.

Gently shoving him away, she smiled impishly. "You can't just start to tell me and then stop. You know you never win this game. We both know what you want, and you know that I'll get what I want before you do in the end, so you might as well spill."

Randolph frowned and peered at her, then relented with a chuckle. "Too true. You're so easy and yet so hard. Alright. Here's the scoop." He laid out the whole plan—the way DSPR had found a way to control the Grimm, and how they would smuggle the whole army in in a rather clever way, dropping on Beacon when the school's guard was down and Ozpin was still away, growing more excited by the moment. He leapt to his feet and pulled a small knife, swinging it to punctuate his points. So like him to be knife happy.

Patience continued to play games with him, keeping him malleable and talking. And finally, as his explanation reached its climax, the idiot tripped on a rut and stumbled into Patience, the blade grazing her forearm. A line of fire shot through her wrist, and she instinctively clutched the wound before kicking Randolph in a spot he'd not miss. He doubled over.

"Way to go, Romeo," she said, grimacing at the pain.

"Why'd you have to go and kick me in the—"

"To make a point," she said, standing. "I think we'll have to finish this later after I get this cleaned up."

She squeezed her eyes shut and shook off the wash of dizziness she felt. Maybe Optima hadn't done quite as good a job as she'd thought.

"I want in," she said, once Randolph had calmed enough to be reasonable. "Let's do this."

She bid Randolph farewell at his door, and staggered back to her room. Everyone was asleep and she collapsed into her bed after cleaning and dressing her wound. It hurt far, far more than it should and her blood flow felt unusually hot and sluggish. The taste of bile rose in her mouth and she suddenly realized that, somehow, _she_ had been the one to be played.

 _Poison. The knife. That jerk!_

Falling out of bed, she stumbled toward Optima trying to call out her name; her voice refused to work. Instead the world went fuzzy and turned upside down, and suddenly she forgot what she was doing. Rational thought became nearly impossible.

The last thing she knew she was somehow outside, crawling into a dumpster where she fully intended to sleep until the end of time.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19 (S875)

Unrest wrapped itself around Celeste's body as Picton continued his debriefing. Hope made no mention of this to her, so the idea that Patience was a traitor wasn't too far-fetched. It could've been for personal matters, but somehow she doubted that.

Even if she had her suspicions, that alone wasn't enough to justify withdrawing just yet. Spying on Patience would waste too much time, and continuing to work with them was too dangerous if they didn't clear things up.

Celeste bit her lip and reached for her weapon. "CAPR, we're going to pay HOPE a visit. Bring your weapons. We need answers."

Azure groaned as he rubbed his eyes. He hadn't changed into his pajamas in anticipation something like this would happen, but losing sleep bothered him to no end. Annoying as it was, he got up and threw his holstered Kusanagi over his back, yawning as he slipped on his shoes.

Rin was less responsive, and sighed at Celeste. "Just what do you think is going to happen?"

"Don't worry, we're not going to start a fight if we can help it. We're bringing them just in case something happens."

They scuttled out their dorm in a matter of minutes, and quietly made their way through the dead-silent corridors. A few rooms before they reached HOPE's, Celeste held her hand up to stop everyone, and nodded at Picton.

Without hesitation, he crouched and put his left hand flat against the ground. As quickly as he was down, he stood up with concerned look. "She's not there."

"What?" whispered Celeste. "Are you sure she came back?"

"Of course. The door is even unlocked."

"What about the rest of HOPE?"

"They're there."

They quietly covered the remaining distance, and stacked up against the door. Celeste hesitantly clasped the knob, and took one more look at her teammates. The door creaked open as she turned the handle, and they flicked the lights on as they entered.

The groans that followed fell silent upon recognizing CAPR standing before them. Celeste's tired gaze met Hope's, boring into her soul. "So, where did Patience go?"

Hope rubbed her eyes and yawned as she sat up. "What do you mean? She's right… There…"

There was a half a human depression on the mattress, but the sheets were still in place. Hope's other two teammates looked just as surprised as she did when they finally came to.

"She said she was going to come in late tonight, but never said why."

Some of the tension sitting in Celeste's chest dissipated - She could feel her response was genuine. It wasn't HOPE as a whole that was the problem - Just Patience. She nodded at Picton, who stepped forward at Hope.

"Patience was talking to Randolph. About what I don't know, but whatever it was involved making out, followed by a knife being swung around…"

Hope looked as confused as the rest of her teammates. They'd had no reason up to now to suspect that Patience wasn't on their side.

"... When they finished, they bid each other goodbye, and departed. Randolph went to sleep, and I saw Patience making her way back here. So where is she?"

They looked at each other as if one or another would know, but nobody spoke up. If none of them knew, they needed to find her. Celeste gave Picton a grim look. "Go check DSPR's room. Report _anything_ that looks suspicious. Rin, Azure, come with me."

"Wait, what're you doing?" asked Hope.

"Finding her since she's still your teammate. If you're too tired, you can stay here. Just stay alert."

CAPR filed out without another word and gently shut the door behind them. Rin held up one of her daggers as a lantern, lighting up halls.

It didn't take long before they arrived several rooms away from DSPR's. When they did, Picton planted his arm on the ground again, this time remaining there for a few seconds. An uneasy look spread across his face as he broke his trance. "They're out cold except for Randolph. His heartbeat is still strong."

Something didn't feel right. Over 15 minutes had passed since Picton finished his debrief. Unless Randolph had problems sleeping, he should've been out by now. "Strong?"

"Like he's been running or exercising."

Though DSPR was supposed to be their enemy, the idea of foul play kept etching its way into Celeste. Where was she? Did she honestly have something else to do at this hour?

Beacon turned out to be much bigger than they thought it was. The hallways seemed endless, and on more than one occasion they wandered into wings that they didn't even know existed. They'd checked everything that might be important - Ozpin's office, the school's electrical room, the lockers, all to no avail.

Their list of places to check dwindled quickly, eventually taking them to the cafeteria. Instead of silently carrying on like they had for the past half hour, Picton stood up with haste. "She's outside. Inside the dumpster."

Rin rolled her eyes and glared. "Seriously? We don't have for this."

"Don't worry, trust me."

They scrambled outside, almost forgetting they were supposed to be quiet.

Celeste cautiously used La Massicot to push open the dumpster lid, as if something were going to jump out. There she was - Covered in leftovers, but definitely her.

Azure had the unfortunate honor of pulling her out of the mess. When he set her down, Celeste nudged her with the side of her blade. "Hey, wake up. You shouldn't be here."

A minute of prodding, and yet there was still no response. Finally, Celeste knelt to the ground and felt her pulse, gasping seconds after. "She's in trouble. Rin, Azure, get HOPE! Now!"

Picton raised her bandaged and limp forearm and removed the gauze. "A wound like this should be trivial. This looks a lot like poison."

"Are you sure?" asked Celeste. "Can you do anything about it?"

"No. I'm an infiltrator, not a medic. I cannot help her."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20 (Stan Crow)

Picton was taken completely off guard by the kiss. A low moan caught his attention a split second before a pair of arms caught his neck and pulled him instantly toward the slumbering girl. Patience's lips were warm and soft against his, and he felt years of coldness melting from his heart.

Her eyes fluttered open, and peered directly into his. He saw something in them he had never seen in a woman's eyes before and for the first time in his life, he wanted to play Scrabble. And make out. Maybe do both at the same time.

"Well hello, Handsome," the short girl purred, kissing him quickly a second time. "Way to pull a 'Sleeping Beauty' there."

[Okay, so that was just a joke. Here's the real post.]

Hope watched him go. "Picton," they called him. He had come with his team, and had awoken her in the middle of the night. For a fleeting instant, she imagined him crossing to her bed and waking her with a kiss. Such a moment would have been _so_ much better than having a quartet of armed teenagers storm their room at an unearthly hour.

"Hope. Girly? Are you there?" Optima shook Hope's shoulder. "What we be doing?"

"Huh? What?" Her daydream popped like spent bubble gum, and the dark reality of the moment crashed in on her. Picton had already disappeared down the hall, and Hope still had no idea why he had even come.

"I suggest we join the search for our colleague," Everest said softly. "I have a feeling she isn't gone by her own choice."

Hope shivered and a flash crossed her mind. She saw Patience stumbling in a dark, unfamiliar area, reeling and obviously unwell. Before Hope could see the area clearly the vision disappeared. Her gut clenched, and any thoughts of romance vanished.

"She's hurt," Hope whimpered. "And alone. But I don't know where." Fiery determination erupted inside her and she dashed to her bed, snatching Nash from the wall. "Let's go. Stick together."

Without a clear idea of where to go, and only rudimentary tracking skills, the search proved frustratingly fruitless. Hope was surprised when she checked her palmtop computer and learned that barely an hour had passed.

It felt as though they'd been out all night.

And then, Azure's voice cut through the night air.

"Team HOPE? We've found her. Repeat. We've found her."

"Patience, tell me what happened?"

Patience looked as though she'd been tossed in a garbage truck and smashed. Well, maybe not _that_ bad, but it'd take at least two hours to fix her hair. For an instant, Hope thought that maybe she might actually be prettier than the other girl for once. Even if she was still flat as a board.

Patience blinked groggily at Hope while Optima continued pouring her healing semblance through Patience's ravaged veins. "They…they're at least two steps ahead of us," Patience mumbled.

"Two steps?" Hope asked. What did she mean by that? A glimpse of a fireball lit the deep recesses of her mind, followed a second later by an actual explosion. Within moments an air raid siren shrieked into the night, and gargantuan shadows blotted out the moon.

"There _he-e-ere_ ," Patience said quietly.

Hope sent Everest and Optima ahead, instructing them to cooperate fully with Team CAPR. Celeste had seemed hesitant, and her eyes still held questions, but the sudden combat meant Hope's plans to answer needed to be pinned elsewhere on the calendar.

"Good luck using your guitar while holding me," Patience muttered as she hobbled alongside Hope. They stumbled up around a bend leading out of the alleys servicing the bowels of Beacon. "By the way, I don't swing that direction, so don't get any funny ideas."

"How can you make a joke at a time like this?" Hope gasped. "We're under attack!"

"Worse," Patience said. "We've been invaded. The whole army."

Hope sucked in a breath. "The _whole_ army?"

"And a day early. He lied to me. Then poisoned me. He is _so_ not getting to make out with me again."

"You two were a—"

"No," Patience cut in. "He was only ever a tool. Guess the feeling was mutual."

Cresting the rise of the side street, the main courtyard came into view. Hope froze with a gasp, feeling tears in her eye. Patience swore under her breath. The main tower of Beacon had half collapsed, its shining green orbs either doused or dangling precariously over empty space. Hundreds of Grimm of all type saturated the area, from the airship landing pads to the front gates. Several fires cast dancing, demonic shadows on the walls. Dust bolts flew like rain. Occasionally, return fire would come from one of the windows, only to be answered with a barrage. Nearly a dozen Nevermores wheeled overhead, swooping down in pairs or trios to strafe areas of human resistance. Neither Team HOPE nor CAPR were in sight.

The night guards already lay motionless under a black sea of monsters.

"Come on," Hope said, tugging Patience hard left and into an alcove. "We need cover. We need a plan." She tried to force a premonition but, as always, she was disappointed. Tactically speaking, there was no way to win under these circumstances. She knew the whole place would be awake soon, and that resistance would stiffen considerably. But would it be enough? And how long before someone inside the academy would coordinate the counterstrike? As for her team—well, she'd just lost half of it, and the teammate she did have was… questionable. The answer? Guerilla tactics.

Poking her head out, she looked to the small spread of woods just beyond the ground, ringing the cliffs near the landing pads. Pull a few Grimm at a time, and she might be able to alleviate at least some of the pressure on the Academy. If she could distract enough…

"Where's your bow?" she asked Patience.

"Patricius? I left him in my room when I decided to go delusional tonight. Hope that's not too big an inconvenience for you."

Hope growled in frustration. "Never mind. Just stay here." Hope dashed forward, but tripped over something immediately. Patience's foot.

"Suicide won't help," Patience said, "It'd be more effective to, you know, find that figurine thingy DSPR had and use it to turn the tide."

Hope dove back into hiding an eyeblink before stray dust bolts blew a hole in the ground she'd lain on. "Nothing personal," she huffed, "but CAPR already tried that. Somehow I don't think DSPR is going to hand it over nicely."

Patience smirked. The smugness in her eyes bothered Hope more than it should.

"Well," the dark-haired girl said, "I think I might just know where to find it."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21 (S875)

Team HOPE arrived on the scene with the escort of Rin and Azure, where Optima quickly began operating on Patience. While they were busy monitoring Patience, CAPR moved to the side, trying to figure out what to do next.

Azure yawned and sat on the ground next to Rin. It was nearing midnight, and he was beginning to get drowsy. "Now what? Can we go to sleep yet?"

Celeste sighed, and stuck her weapon in the ground before pondering their next move. "Not quite, we need to talk to Patience first."

The flapping of wings off in the distance suddenly drew Picton's attention. But neither HOPE nor CAPR seemed to notice. Was he imagining it?

Picton's eyes narrowed briefly as he scanned the trees before widening in concern. "They're here."

Dread flooded into Celeste as darkness shifted and growled with the presence of hungry Grimm. Did they make some sort of mistake? Was Patience some sort of trigger? Whatever the case, they were too late, and they needed to move. "Hope, we need to move - Now."

"Just a minute, she just needs a little longer," hushed Hope over her back. "What's the rush?"

She turned around in time to catch sight of the first wave of Grimm cutting through the moonlight. "Optima, Everest, go with them. I'll take care of Patience."

"Good luck with her," smiled Optima before running off with Everest.

When Celeste turned back to the Grimm, Rin and Azure were gone. Before she could start searching, a pinpoint beam of light atop the roof of Beacon raked across the first wave, crippling if not killing those that were struck. It was Rin, with Azure standing guard at the main entrance. "Regroup, now!"

Seconds after they started making their way through, a Deathstalker cut them off and smashed into Beacon, opening up a gaping hole in the wall. Elementa bolts screamed across the sky, tearing apart the masonry and setting ablaze everything they touched.

A direct approach to Rin and Azure had already become too dangerous. As much as it pained her to her teammates and the other half of HOPE, she ducked back into the school to find another way around.

"So, they want to do this on their own," commented Picton.

"Nevermind that, we need to rendezvous or someone is going to die! They're on their own for now. Optima, Everest, give me a rundown at what you're good at."

"Hand-to-hand combat and close-range support," responded Everest.

"Whatever you want. Healing, bombing, smashing, just to name a few," happily called Optima.

Okay, so they had a close-range tank, and a good field medic. All she needed to do now was figure out how to apply them.

Not even a minute passed, and they could already hear the panicked cries of confused students over the sound of Beacon's framework crumbling around them.

Perfect. This was exactly what they needed - A rematch against the Elementas and their friends. How dare they disturb him when he was supposed to be at rest. Such a crime would not go unpunished, and as such they had to pay. "Alright Rin, what's the call?"

A smile grew on her face as she tracked the Nevermores soaring overhead. "I'll take care of our friends above, you take care of the bugs."

Worked for him. Without a second thought, he dropped off the roof and onto an Ursa below, slicing its torso in two. . The stampeding Grimm stopped momentarily, locking onto him as he stood in their way.

He exchanged glares with an Elementa leading the charge before suddenly rushing under its belly and dismembering half of its legs. When he reached the other side, he almost came face to face with a salvo of bolts like he did not long ago. But he knew better this time, and leapt to the side avoiding them altogether, letting them blow apart their crippled comrade and anything unfortunate enough to be nearby.

 _Found you._

The light emitted from their bolts gave them away even in the dense cover of the trees, and Azure homed in on them. As he jumped over the treetops, he heard a Nevermore screech overhead. A look over his shoulder revealed another beam of Sunshine ripping through the sky, tearing off a couple wings as it split the clouds above.

Though there was no cover on the roof, Rin was holding her ground just fine. She'd lit up the sky with several flares, and several thick umbrella-like ice columns dotted the roofs, giving her places to hide.

He landed at his mark, and sank the Kusanagi into one of its eyes, clenching his teeth into a smile of content. While jumping to the next one in the battery, a ball of fire licked his left arm, nearly throwing him off course. Azure scowled at it, imagining the feeling of ripping its antennae off, but didn't realize until it was too late the jaws of the Elementa he was jumping at wrapping around him.

They clamped on his sides and lifted him into the air, making it impossible for him to breathe. When he tried to thrust the Kusanagi into its eye, a fireball enveloped him, and he felt every nerve on his body scream.

Feeling the near-blinding pain bind him, Azure flushed his body with his aura, and the pain disappeared. He looked down, ravaged the inside of its eye with the Kusanagi, and charged at the last Elementa. "YOU'RE MINE!"

The Elementa fell on its back as Azure smashed into it at ramming speed, letting him open a chasm in its chest.

With the Elementa battery down, he returned to Rin on the roofs. Four Nevermores lay dead, but plenty more flew overhead.

"Don't worry about me, just try to keep them at bay," ordered Rin. "We'll be in touch."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 21 (S875)

Team HOPE arrived on the scene with the escort of Rin and Azure, where Optima quickly began operating on Patience. While they were busy monitoring Patience, CAPR moved to the side, trying to figure out what to do next.

Azure yawned and sat on the ground next to Rin. It was nearing midnight, and he was beginning to get drowsy. "Now what? Can we go to sleep yet?"

Celeste sighed, and stuck her weapon in the ground before pondering their next move. "Not quite, we need to talk to Patience first."

The flapping of wings off in the distance suddenly drew Picton's attention. But neither HOPE nor CAPR seemed to notice. Was he imagining it?

Picton's eyes narrowed briefly as he scanned the trees before widening in concern. "They're here."

Dread flooded into Celeste as darkness shifted and growled with the presence of hungry Grimm. Did they make some sort of mistake? Was Patience some sort of trigger? Whatever the case, they were too late, and they needed to move. "Hope, we need to move - Now."

"Just a minute, she just needs a little longer," hushed Hope over her back. "What's the rush?"

She turned around in time to catch sight of the first wave of Grimm cutting through the moonlight. "Optima, Everest, go with them. I'll take care of Patience."

"Good luck with her," smiled Optima before running off with Everest.

When Celeste turned back to the Grimm, Rin and Azure were gone. Before she could start searching, a pinpoint beam of light atop the roof of Beacon raked across the first wave, crippling if not killing those that were struck. It was Rin, with Azure standing guard at the main entrance. "Regroup, now!"

Seconds after they started making their way through, a Deathstalker cut them off and smashed into Beacon, opening up a gaping hole in the wall. Elementa bolts screamed across the sky, tearing apart the masonry and setting ablaze everything they touched.

A direct approach to Rin and Azure had already become too dangerous. As much as it pained her to her teammates and the other half of HOPE, she ducked back into the school to find another way around.

"So, they want to do this on their own," commented Picton.

"Nevermind that, we need to rendezvous or someone is going to die! They're on their own for now. Optima, Everest, give me a rundown at what you're good at."

"Hand-to-hand combat and close-range support," responded Everest.

"Whatever you want. Healing, bombing, smashing, just to name a few," happily called Optima.

Okay, so they had a close-range tank, and a good field medic. All she needed to do now was figure out how to apply them.

Not even a minute passed, and they could already hear the panicked cries of confused students over the sound of Beacon's framework crumbling around them.

Perfect. This was exactly what they needed - A rematch against the Elementas and their friends. How dare they disturb him when he was supposed to be at rest. Such a crime would not go unpunished, and as such they had to pay. "Alright Rin, what's the call?"

A smile grew on her face as she tracked the Nevermores soaring overhead. "I'll take care of our friends above, you take care of the bugs."

Worked for him. Without a second thought, he dropped off the roof and onto an Ursa below, slicing its torso in two. . The stampeding Grimm stopped momentarily, locking onto him as he stood in their way.

He exchanged glares with an Elementa leading the charge before suddenly rushing under its belly and dismembering half of its legs. When he reached the other side, he almost came face to face with a salvo of bolts like he did not long ago. But he knew better this time, and leapt to the side avoiding them altogether, letting them blow apart their crippled comrade and anything unfortunate enough to be nearby.

 _Found you._

The light emitted from their bolts gave them away even in the dense cover of the trees, and Azure homed in on them. As he jumped over the treetops, he heard a Nevermore screech overhead. A look over his shoulder revealed another beam of Sunshine ripping through the sky, tearing off a couple wings as it split the clouds above.

Though there was no cover on the roof, Rin was holding her ground just fine. She'd lit up the sky with several flares, and several thick umbrella-like ice columns dotted the roofs, giving her places to hide.

He landed at his mark, and sank the Kusanagi into one of its eyes, clenching his teeth into a smile of content. While jumping to the next one in the battery, a ball of fire licked his left arm, nearly throwing him off course. Azure scowled at it, imagining the feeling of ripping its antennae off, but didn't realize until it was too late the jaws of the Elementa he was jumping at wrapping around him.

They clamped on his sides and lifted him into the air, making it impossible for him to breathe. When he tried to thrust the Kusanagi into its eye, a fireball enveloped him, and he felt every nerve on his body scream.

Feeling the near-blinding pain bind him, Azure flushed his body with his aura, and the pain disappeared. He looked down, ravaged the inside of its eye with the Kusanagi, and charged at the last Elementa. "YOU'RE MINE!"

The Elementa fell on its back as Azure smashed into it at ramming speed, letting him open a chasm in its chest.

With the Elementa battery down, he returned to Rin on the roofs. Four Nevermores lay dead, but plenty more flew overhead.

"Don't worry about me, just try to keep them at bay," ordered Rin. "We'll be in touch."


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23 (S875)

Despite the army storming into Beacon, the halls were disturbingly quiet except for the fires eating away at the carpet and the echoes of gunfire and combat. Celeste would've actually felt more comfortable if she could see the Grimm. Her heart pounded at every corner, expecting to encounter some sort of overwhelming ambush or worse-yet, the bodies of her comrades.

The monitoring pad in her left pocket could easily answer whether or not Rin and Azure were okay, but she dared not even look in its general direction.

Occasionally they'd run into a lone Beowolf or Ursa roaming the halls, but that did little to put her at ease. Where were the Deathstalkers, the Elementas, the stuff that could actually seriously hurt them?

They were clearly after something - Some rooms were untouched, others were ravaged beyond recognition. The stage they arrived at where Ozpin first introduced himself at was in pristine condition, minus the shattered windows in the foreground.

Picton was cautiously leading them forward, stopping several times a minute to pulse the area. As they reached the center, Picton suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, and turned a horrified look at the forking hallways before them. "Get ready for a fight. They're coming."

Celeste flipped La Massicot around and pointed the shotgun-end down one of the hallways. "From where?"

"Everywhere."

One at a time, the pitch-black halls began grumbling with the stampeding Grimm, and piercing red eyes advanced on them.

"Deathstalker, leftmost hall!" called Everest.

"C'mon, Celeste, what's the call?" nervously asked Picton. "There's another one coming down the middle…!"

Running sounded like a good idea, but then they'd have to take another detour to Azure and Rin. Four against two Deathstalkers and an indeterminate number of Grimm were bad odds, but they didn't have a choice - Her teammates were running out of time. "Hold position. Everest, Optima, you get one of them. Picton, cover me while I get the other."

"Acknowledged," replied Everest.

Picton took several steps back with his weapons drawn, clenching his teeth in anticipation. Brawling in this open room definitely wasn't going to be to his advantage, especially not against armored targets. "You sure about this?"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before locking her gaze on the hissing scorpion charging before her. "Positive."

The Deathstalkers emerged into the stage almost simultaneously, and shrieked as the first few blows were exchanged. From behind them poured out dozens of smaller Grimm that fanned out across the room.

One of them immediately picked out Celeste, whereas the other chased after Everest.

 _Tail and eyes,_ recited Celeste to herself. Those were her targets. Several thundering blasts from her shotgun failed to connect to the eyes, only drawing one of the claws in front as a shield. It was closing fast, and its tail was too high up for her to swing at.

When it was a second away from ramming her, she jumped to the side, only to find herself in the unwelcoming claws of an Ursa. A couple swings raked her aura before she flung its arms across the floor and painted its bowels across its comrades.

Where was Picton? She knew he couldn't really help against the Deathstalker, but the least he could've done was cover her. But he was being surrounded by a horde of Beowolves and Ursi, completely unable to reach her.

 _This is bad…!_

Without a chance to recover, Celeste suddenly felt something rushing in from her left. She instinctively swung in response, barely in time to catch the stinger homing in on her head. Knowing what was coming next, she took a step forward and angled her shotgun forward into the face of the Deathstalker, relentlessly hammering its eyes with dust.

It screeched in pain and backed up and began swinging its claws back and fourth. One swing hit her, and she tumbled across the floor, tripping an unexpecting Optima over.

"Watch it!" called Everest.

She was back on her feet in an instant, only in time to see the glow of another stinger bolting toward her face. The sound of something flying through the air suddenly sliced it off, and a hammer batted the dismembered stinger into the chest of an unsuspecting Ursa.

Before Everest could reclaim his glaives, a pair of Ursa Majors tackled him to the ground. They returned to him and lodged themselves in the backs of the bears, but they nevertheless continued clawing at him.

"Hang in there Everest!" cried Optima.

Celeste's gut dropped as the other Deathstalker she'd nearly forgotten about suddenly took a stab clear through Optima's arm, forcing her to helplessly drop her weapon. "Let her go!"

She couldn't even make it two steps before a Beowolf bit into her shoulder, but she kept going and slashed at it eyes, knocking out a row. The shotgun end flew into its eyes as it went around her back, and she spat fire into it exposed internals, finishing with a heavy vertical slash as it came back around.

More Beowolves piled onto her, and a second later the remaining stinger-less Deathstalker swatted her in her immobilized state, throwing her into a wall.

The monitor in her pocket fell out as she met the ground, and dread flooded her stomach as her gaze met it.

Azure's aura was close to 0%, Rin's at barely 15%, Picton's under 10%, and herself at under 20%.

Everest suddenly burst out from beneath the Ursa Majors, but was quickly caught in the iron grip of the Deathstalker. Nothing was working. There were too many of them!

Tears welled in her eyes as she staggered to her feet. They couldn't win. Everyone was going to die. All because she didn't want to detour.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24 (Stan Crow)

A gut strike blasted the wind from Hope, throwing her back again. She'd seen films of Ursa Majors in Professor Porter's class and she'd even dealt with smaller ursas.

The reality before her was an unstoppable behemoth.

And it was headed directly at Patience who knelt, sobbing, apparently unaware of the threat.

 _She's dead if I can't stop it. Distraction doesn't work. I need to immobilize it._

Hope was up and running before the thought completed. Somehow she intercepted the creature, angling a blow at the soft side of its knee. Nash bit, but was bounced away by the monster's stride.

Strike the foot. The wrist. The face.

Nothing.

Rearing over Randolph and Patience, the demon roared at the slender girl in front of its master, whipping its claws toward her.

 _Distract it!_

She flipped Nash around and leveled the shotgun end just behind Randolph, jerking the trigger three times fast. A few pellets harmlessly ricocheted off his aura; he didn't even seem to notice.

The Ursa's attack diverted mid-flight and made contact with Hope instead. She was ready for the swipe and tuck-rolled out of it easily.

"Come on!" she yelled at it, firing two more round past Randolph. Whatever Patience was doing to him _must_ be good; no one ignores shotgun blasts spewing past their back if they're conscious.

The Ursa lunged, and Hope cartwheeled inside its reach, peppering it with shot. The thick flank absorbed the blasts harmlessly. Nash's blade blurred in behind the pellets, slicing into the tendon linking the bear's thigh to its hip.

That got a reaction.

A mule kick hurled Hope into the far wall of the alley, and she dropped into an ungracious heap on the pavement. Dizzy, she rolled without waiting, the incoming claws merely grazing her face instead of ripping it free.

Then something else hit. A vision of fire. Of death. Her friends, fellow students, and even faculty. Randolph, eyes glowing, laughed gleefully while Beacon burned.

A second vision followed. Randolph's eyes were dead, his head lying a yard from his body. Hope saw herself weeping next to him, blood smeared on Nash's blade.

In that moment, she knew there was only one solution to the problem: kill Randolph. She knew if she thought about it she'd never do it, so she scrambled to her feet and bolted for him.

Suddenly, her face met the ground hard. She knew she'd lost teeth. A monstrous shadow flashed over her, then the weight of a thousand suns crashed into her back and the ursa roared triumphantly.

Bones cracked. Breathing was impossible. The night dimmed to a blurry tunnel. Randolph was still ten feet away.

It may as well have been ten light years.

Without warning, the pressure eased. Hope emptied Nash clip as fast as she could. The recoil rammed the rifle butt into her armpit and propelled her to safety. Sprinting at Randolph, she was surprised to see him… openly making out with Patience?

 _What the…?_

Patience opened her eyes as Hope readied Nash for a cleaving strike on Randolph's neck. Hope saw understanding in the other girl's gaze; Patience would duck.

Heaving with everything she had, Nash careened toward the soft flesh of the angry young man with enough force to sever flesh _and_ aura.

 _Down!_

A flash vision blinded her and she instantly dropped into a knee slide, centimeters before her axe found its target. Her attack went wide, but the Ursa's attack slid past her.

A second later, Randolph von Lang's body crumpled to the ground.

Before Hope had time to process anything bullets sparked around them, accompanied by the dulled "thwip" of a silenced rifle. Patience snatched Randolph's weapon from his lifeless hands but even as she switched it to carbine mode, the Ursa whirled.

Hope looked back in time to see it knock Sadiyya Triste clear out of the alley and toward the nearby woods with a single swing. Bellowing, it charged after her, shattering the curtain of feathers before doing the same to small trees.

"You just redefined the term 'power slide'," Patience said, appearing at Hope's side. "I didn't know you had it in you."

Hope was vaguely aware of a hand reaching for her. She ignored it. She had been ready to _kill_ Randolph von Lang. One of her fellow students. She peeked at his corpse, and nearly threw up at the sight of the jagged tear above his collarbone. Burying her face in her chest, she didn't even try to hold back the torrent of tears.

"Come on," Patience said impatiently. "We're not done yet. We've still got a thousand Grimm to deal with. But I have a hunch that's going to be easier now. And Sadiyya should live. If she wakes up from that blow in time, that is."

Her hand gripped Hope's elbow and dragged her to her feet. Hope didn't resist. Instead, her tears continued unabated.

The pair stumbled awkwardly through the battle-scarred courtyard. Bodies were just things, now. Broken statue? So what? Charred pavement? You could fix that easy. Grimm beginning to retreat? Hooray? Maybe?

She had nearly killed someone just a minute ago. Why did of the rest of this matter? Who was _she_ , Hope Harris, to think she had the right to end someone's life? Just because she'd seen a vision? How many times had she been wrong before? Even if she were _right_ , she had no authority to _murder_ him. She could have simply knocked him out and bound him. Surely that would have broken his control long enough to turn the tide on the attack.

At that point, she _did_ vomit. Patience glared at her but stopped to let her recover.

The comm line crackled. " _Miss Hope_ ," Everest's voice said, " _we're in the main assembly hall. Backup just arrived and we're pushing back. The Grimm are in retreat. Are you well_?"

 _No,_ Hope thought. _I am definitely_ not _well. I'm not sure I'll ever be well again._


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25 (S875)

The air grew heavy the deeper into Beacon Azure drew. He'd managed to pick off a few stragglers poking through some of the rooms, but the Elementas and Deathstalkers were missing from the picture, with their enormous tracks trailing further inward.

Then the lights flickered out, and chill ran down his back.

 _No matter._

Running a weak stream of his aura through the Kusanagi, the blade lit up like a lantern, barely illuminating either side of the hallway.

 _Ah, here we go._

A barely scratched Deathstalker was stomping down the halls on its own. Its entourage seemed to have gone ahead, but judging by what he could hear they weren't far away. "Hey c'mon! I'm back here!"

It ignored him, and kept walking.

 _Really? Fine then._

Azure clenched the Kusanagi, and start picking up speed, coming up from behind it on its left. Instead of swinging at its lesser-armored rear, he wall-ran in front of it and jumped across to the other side, placing a deep cut in its armored tail.

"Don't. Ignore. Me!" cursed Azure as he bounced back and forth between the walls.

It shrieked and swung furiously as Azure captured its attention. In a few seconds, he was forced to the ground in front of him, where he defiantly stood before it.

Destroy the claws, and then go in for the coup de grace - That was all he needed to do. It'd be a lot easier of Rin were here, but a challenge was always welcome.

The scorpion made its move first, stabbing at him with its stinger. A good hit could remove it, but that wasn't something he could easily do without perfect timing.

Out of nowhere a pulse of fear locked him in place.

 _Rin…!_

He had to get back to her as quickly as possible - Something happened to her. For a moment, both Azure and the Deathstalker had come to a standstill. Did something also happen to the Deathstalker?

Before he could review the possibilities, it bludgeoned forward at him with renewed rage, pushing him back.

 _Wrong way, wrong way!_

Returning to Rin took priority over the Deathstalker, but he couldn't get around it. He wasn't about to detour through the school - There was no telling what else could be waiting for him. The only choice was to slip through, or win.

The claws bulldozed through the walls like plywood, spewing dust and splintered wood into the halls. This was a waste of time - He wasn't making progress. The resentment he held toward the Grimm boiled to his front, and he bared his teeth in anger.

"OUT OF MY WAY!"

Azure charged head on to the surprise of his opponent and disabled one of the claws, but as he tried to jump past, he felt his left arm get caught in the other claw. It twisted and shattered as it clamped down, sending an agonizing amount of pain screaming through his arm.

With his scrambled senses, he blindly swung at the remaining claw, luckily hitting his mark. It dropped him and retreated in its own pain, stabbing the ground in front of Azure to ward him.

He trembled in pain and anger as he climbed to his feet, clutching his mangled arm. His thoughts were a blur - Only his abstract hatred of Grimm and his desire to help Rin clouded his head. A hushed and barely-human growl made it through his teeth, and he brought the Kusanagi on guard once more. He needed to keep going.

A roar left his mouth and echoed through the halls as he charged. The glowing stinger zeroed in on him, but he made no attempt to dodge. It sank into his leg and stopped him in his tracks, catching the stinger. Another blinding wave of pain made its way through Azure, but he kept his focus, and dismembered the stinger.

The Deathstalker shrieked at its loss, turned and ran - It could no longer fight.

Victorious as he was, he was in horrible condition. Azure ripped the stinger out of his hip, but collapsed shortly after. Crippled as he was, he started dragging himself across the floor toward the staircase to the roof, trailing blood in his path.

Damn these Grimm. Always getting in his way, taking things from him. If they wanted him, fine! But they couldn't have Rin.

 _Kill… Kill all of you… I'll kill all of you!_

 _Azure…_

He'd reached his limit - Rin could feel it through the pain of the enormous feather through her leg nailing her to the ground. She couldn't block out the pain, couldn't aim like this, and couldn't muster the strength to fire back.

The Nevermores circling overhead took turns attacking, but she was just barely managing to keep the trajectories of their feathers from landing another direct hit.

 _Oh no…_

She could feel the ghastly, enraged, _inhuman_ aura she felt years ago suddenly replacing Azure's fading one. Was _that_ happening again? No, she couldn't let that happen. With one of her arms, she started cutting away at the feather, trying to cut herself loose.

There wasn't much time - If she didn't reach Azure, that… Thing, was going to take him from her again.

 _Damn it!_

It was taking too long for everyone to recover. Picton wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, Optima had just dealt with a hole in her arm and was still purging poison from herself, and other people were tending to the numerous lacerations and bites all over Everest. "I'm going after Rin and Azure - They're out of time."

"Just you be waiting, I only need two minutes," said Optima.

Celeste stood up and took La Massicot into her hands. "They don't have a couple more minutes."

There was a moment of shock as she looked at her monitor - Azure's aura percentage was going _up_. He was regenerating? That shouldn't be possible at this rate. How was he doing this? What did it mean?


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26 (Stan Crow)

A cocktail of emotions boiled up inside Patience as she watched her team lead retching in the courtyard. Hope's look of pain had been unmistakable when the girl had shriveled in on herself next to Randolph's shell—as if the guy had actually mattered. And yet, somehow Patience was touched by the obvious grief.

 _All life has value._ That's what the nuns always said.

She'd acted on that when she'd attempted to save Hope and Everest in the forest just days ago. But where did you draw the line? Even Hope, naïve as she was, had sensed that leaving Randolph alive would have threatened _everyone_.

Hope had done the smart thing. Or, rather, she'd been in the process of doing it until she dodged the Ursa's strike that did the job for her. Still she had been willing to do it.

So why was her comrade so broken up about this?

Patience waited until Hope finished being sick then seized her by the arm. "Let's go."

Hope cast a glance back toward the alley. "H-how…did you—"

"Save friends now," Patience interrupted. "Expository monologue later." And on they went.

Hurrying through the courtyard, they paused only to provide aid to a dozen wounded—students and guards alike. Patience didn't let herself feel anything at the sight of the injuries. The moment the fallen were stabilized Patience practically carried Hope from the scene, staggering into the chaotic wake of the Grimm's invasion.

A few boarbatusks and beowolves showed their heads, but Patience kept Randolph's weapon in carbine mode, raining hot death on her enemies from afar until her clip ran out. When a boar nearly gutted Hope, she finally engaged.

Just holding the carbine reminded Patience of Randolph's leering face and perverse intent. He'd made her break her promise to herself.

Seducing him had come so easily—on the cliff, and then again in the alley. Years of practice bending men to her will had surfaced without her even trying. But she'd _had_ to do it. Neither herself now Hope would have survived had Patience not so utterly blinded the angsty boy. He hadn't even reacted to shotgun blasts skimming his back.

It had worked. He was dead. And she felt herself sliding back toward her old life.

 _I hate him_ , she thought. _He did this to me._

When the clip ran dry, she flipped the weapon into melee mode and poured her fury into any monster stupid enough to come within the range of the lashing razors. Those she couldn't reach she ran down and flayed.

Three bewolves charged her. All she saw was his face, jeering, defeating her even from beyond the grave.

 _You'll never win, Patience_ , she heard him say. _You were made to be sold and you know it. You're a tool of ecstasy and nothing else. No one will ever love you._

 _Ever._

" _No_! _"_ She was on the demons like a whirlwind, the deadly tails of the scourge failing everywhere. She scoured the flesh from the first beast before the others could attack. When one wolf sank its teeth deep into her thigh, she almost casually reached down and broke its jaw with her free hand, while mincing the trachea of the other beast.

 _You'll never win!_

" _Get out of my head_!"

It wasn't until she noticed a wolf flying out the window that she comprehended she had been the cause of it. The curved row of holes in her leg pulsed with hot blood. She ran a finger across it, and licked it. It was the blood of her old life and she would let it flow. Let it flow until she had purged herself of her past.

 _You gave yourself to_ me _, of all people_ , Randolph's voice echoed. _Even knowing I only wanted your body._

Gritting her teeth, she charged down the hall, barely aware that someone was calling after her. She kicked into door after door until she found a target to destroy.

On and on she went tearing through Grimm as though they were so much paper. Time ceased to exist. There was nothing but death and carnage and release.

Rip. Tear. Kill. Destroy the fool girl she had once been.

It ended nearly as suddenly as it had begun. After turning a fleeing, clawless Death Stalker into hamburger she stumbled into the main assembly hall. Her knees buckled against her will and she flopped on her side, her life oozing from a hundred cuts and punctures.

The blood was refreshing as it trickled down her face and across her lips. Images of her life on the streets lolled through her head. The outfits carefully designed to draw the eye. Cheap booze and drugs. Questionable companionship. Feeding herself with whatever she could until she could afford to buy more than she'd ever need, and then losing her wealth in a single night at the tables. Arrests. Jailbreaks. Abusing and being abused.

Nineteen years of rot.

She didn't deserve to live.

Something touched her forehead, but she found she didn't have the strength to bat it away. Looking for Randolph's face, she saw only a crimson blur. From far away, she heard a voice. It sounded… concerned.

"Patience? Patience?"

She closed her eyes. Sleep might turn into death, and that would be okay with her. She'd have to beg the devil for a room apart from Randolph, but she'd manage.

Something hefted her. A face hovered nearby, soft and warm and familiar.

"Mom?" she croaked.

When she stopped jostling sometime later, the face was still there, speaking soothingly. A warm, wet thing dabbed at her forehead, and she felt her clothing being tugged off. Eh. Let them have her. But no one took her. Instead, there was more of the soft warmth, and then she was tucked into bed. A straw pushed into her mouth and she sipped water almost against her will.

"You should rest now," the voice said.

Unsure whether she'd wake, but figuring she had nothing to lose, Patience complied.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27 (S875)

The hallways grew more foreboding with every stride Celeste took down the ruined corridor. Painful as it was to run, she managed to keep a steady pace. Even so, the air felt as if it was growing heavier and heavier.

There was some sort of… Presence, ahead of her. But it didn't have the hostility of any Grimm she'd encountered before, or the warmth of a person. Her grip on La Massicot tightened - It was unwelcoming to say the least, but it was also blurry as if something else was mixing with it.

She stopped suddenly when she came to a thick trail of fresh blood leading down the hallway.

 _Is it…?_

It went down the same path she was taking up to the roof - Could it be Azure? At the turn of another corner, she stopped in her tracks - A barely visible dark blue glow on the ground was slowly making its way to the stairwell. Celeste gulped, and raised her weapon, slowly and quietly stepping alongside the blood trail.

The closer she got, the more her heart pounded. Whatever it was was heaving and growling, pulling itself across the ground. When she caught up to it, her heart dropped. "Azure…?"

Azure's left eye was clouded in an unfamiliar dark blue aura, making its way even into the blood-coated Kusanagi. His left arm was twisted and bending in ways it shouldn't, and blood seemed to be seeping out from his leg.

"Azure hang on, I'll go get Optima!" breathed Celeste.

He didn't respond. It was as if he didn't even know she was there, as if he wasn't even _in control_. It certainly didn't feel like the Azure she knew. Whatever the case, she needed to stop him from moving. At this rate, he'd bleed out within the hour. "Please stop! You're going to kill yourself!"

Still no response. At this point, she put her weapon down and tried to restrain him. To her surprise, his Kusanagi-wielding arm took a swing at her, barely giving her enough time to back off. "Come on Azure, this isn't funny! You're going to die if you keep going! It's Celeste, your team leader!" 

A frightened chill ran down her back as Azure shot her a soul-piercing glare at her, his only response a low growl.

Tears welled in her eyes as her pleas fell upon deaf ears. Was she so terrible a leader that listening to her to save their own life was too much to ask? She was literally watching the life drain from Azure's body, her _teammate's_ body. "Optima! Please! Help!"

Was she going to watch another one of her subordinates die under her command? Was she going to relive that nightmare? Her deceased teammate's grave flashed into her head, and she covered her face. "AZURE! STOP!"

Finally, he stopped. The glow retreated from his eye, and the Kusanagi went dark. Azure took a brief exhausted look at her through the light of the flare on the floor, before his eyes rolled up and he fell silent.

Celeste rushed over, and put her hand over his nose - He was breathing, but barely. Her monitor beeped through her pocket, and she pulled it out with a shaky hand. His aura was dropping again, and worse-yet his life signs were failing. Where was Optima, or everyone else for that matter?

 _Oh no._ She'd completely forgotten about Rin. She could hear the screeches of Nevermores soaring overhead, and what she thought was the sound of their spear-like piercing the roofing. How could she forget about her now of all times? At least Azure was out of harm's way.

Before she could get to her feet and up the stairwell, she heard something flop at the base of the staircase.

"Celeste?" came Rin's weak voice. "Where's…"

Celeste looked over at Azure's still body.

"Azure!" cried Rin.

Rin limped over, using the wall to support her before slumping at his side. She brought his head on her lap, and started surveying the damage. "Get medical attention. I'll stay with him."

After Celeste left, Rin spent what felt like an hour running her hands down Azure's back, trying to breathe some comfort into him. Maybe splitting up in general was a bad idea. Twice in one week, they'd nearly managed to get themselves killed because of it.

The first one with the Elementas was mostly bad luck, but nevertheless, things could've gone smoother if she hadn't locked Celeste and Picton out of the fight. Same with tonight - If they hadn't ran off, Azure probably wouldn't have come so close to going berserk like he did several years ago.

But it was over - They'd avoided catastrophe. Azure's aura had normalized, and though she was no medic, she knew he was going to be okay.

Of course this wasn't without cost. A few Nevermores remained, but in the middle of the fight they'd suddenly stopped attacking Beacon itself and focusing on her. That's how one of her legs ended up with a feather running through it. She cut herself loose just in time to avoid another barrage, but took a bad grazing hit to her back before making it down the stairs.

But more importantly… She'd used too much dust! Dust was rather expensive, and the type and quality she used was rather difficult to come by. What a waste.

No matter. At least Azure was okay, and they'd avoided the worst. There was no telling what could've happened had he gone berserk. She sighed, and wrapped her arms around Azure's neck.

Distant footsteps came echoing down the hall, and a wave of relief finally washed over her.

 _Better hurry up Celeste. I'm starting to feel very sleepy..._


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28 (Stan Crow)

How did one mother a monster? Hope was uncertain, but when she looked at the ashen faced Patience lying motionless in bed, she trusted her instincts and hoped for the best.

The fighting had ended half an hour after Randolph had…she blanked her mind. Immediately, everyone able had launched into recovery mode. Ozpin returned only hours later and spent the next week organizing the cleanup, beginning an investigation, and arranging a few, unfortunate funerals.

Nobody discussed Hope's and Patience's involvement.

Hope memorized the infirmary within the first forty-eight hours after the attack. When she wasn't cleaning, she was changing her comrade's dressings, cleaning pus from infected wounds, bringing her sustenance, insisting pills were taken, and even just sitting bedside, holding the young woman's hand—the one not in a cast, anyway.

She stole power naps when Patience slept.

The older girl had nearly bled out before they'd gotten her medical attention, and Optima had been so drained from the fighting that she burned two days recovering herself. Everest had hastily pushed aside his characteristic squeamishness with women to stabilise his fallen teammate.

Hope, and the academy medical staff, did the rest.

Patience slept fitfully that first night and most of the next day. She woke, briefly, to eat, after which Hope helped her use the restroom. Then it was back to sleep for another twelve hours. The rest of the week was a fight, Patience refusing any and all aid. Hope stayed anyway, forcing help and enduring the grumbling, thankless insults.

It was a long week. But she was happy.

"Will you take off this stupid blindfold?" Patience asked as Hope stopped at their dorm room.

"We're here," Hope said, squeezing Patience's hand. Patience didn't squeeze back, but for once, she didn't resist.

"You are _not_ using me as a piñata," Patience muttered.

"Hush. You'll be fine." Hope pushed open the door and steered her in.

The door clicked shut. "Surprise!"

Before the she could strip the blindfold, Hope slipped a paper party hat over the girl's dark hair, then blew a noisemaker.

Patience scowled at her teammates, each in turn, receiving only smiles in response.

Hope pulled her teammate into a one-armed hug. "We couldn't _not_ have a welcome back party, could we?"

Optima stepped forward and trust a plastic plate bearing cake and strawberry ice cream at Patience. "Welcome back, girl. Enjoy."

Everest gently placed a ceramic bowl of something steaming over rice on her bed. "Please do not tell my mother I adjusted her recipe. It is my wish that you enjoy this meal."

Hope watched Patience look between dinner and dessert. Patience crossed to her bed and nibbled some of the yellowish sauce from the end of the spoon. Then she took a full bite and stopped cold. Her eyes closed, and she raised her face to the sky.

Hope reached for her. "Patience? Are you okay?"

Patience nodded slowly. When she opened her eyes she stood and took two, quick strides toward Everest. He retreated but was cornered against the wall.

"This," Patience said, "is the best— _best—_ curry I have ever tasted.

"I might just be in love."

Then she kissed him hard, full on the lips.

Everest collapsed. The girls just laughed.

When the sun had gone to bed and the evening symphony of crickets played, Hope sat beside Patience, staring out over the Emerald Forest. "So how did you get back to Beacon that day we found DSPR?"

Patience rolled her eyes. "Rand—he—was noble enough to fly me back. Via Nevermore of all things. He didn't stick around until help arrived, though.

"And what happened between you two in the alley?"

The team scout sighed, but Hope caught a flicker of pain in her eyes. "I'd rather not talk about it. Let's just say his hormones gave me _plenty_ of leverage."

"I never did thank you for that."

"I didn't thank _you_ for anything. Consider us even."

The pair went silent for a long time. Hope had recently learned a few things about Patience's past. Orphan. Homeless. Criminal. Prostitute.

It made her want to cry.

Hope studied the self-styled "Queen of Fevoreaux." Had this girl ever known love? Acceptance? Family? Probably not. Could Hope fill those gaps? Again, probably not.

But she would try.

"I never had a sister," she said quietly. Patience didn't answer. Instead, she scratched absently at her left arm just above the cast.

Hope scooted a closer to her companion. "Tell me about the nunnery."

"Do you always talk this much?"

"Only when I'm nervous and in an awkward situation."

Patience looked her over once. "Are you always that open as well?"

Hope pursed her lips for a moment, frustration welling inside. She shouldn't start a fight. She was trying to make a friend.

She let it out anyway.

"I just spent seven days making sure you were even able to breathe, let alone walk. You're sitting on this cliff as much because of me as anyone else. I watched your screaming-mad suicide charge through the school and then I put you back together. And do you know something? I learned a lot about you in that time.

"And I learned how to love you. Like the sister I never had.

"So if I want to talk to you, maybe I have a good reason for it, alright?"

Emotions flared in Patience's visage and Hope readied herself for a barrage of snide remarks. Patience turned away, gazing into the twilight.

After a long moment, she stood, and Hope copied. Patience peered at her and got close. Hope forced herself not to assume a defensive stance. The other girl's arms came up slowly, and then they were around Hope, hesitantly pulling her close. Hope returned the embrace, careful of the injured arm, and Patience buried her head in Hope's neck.

"Friends?" Hope asked.

"This changes nothing between us," Patience murmured.

It was as good an answer as Hope could expect.

She had won.


	29. Epilogue

Epilogue (S875)

Blurry voices and noises clouded Azure as he stirred from his three-day slumber. The sheets he was lying in felt hot, but he couldn't bring his body to free himself of the infernal blankets. His eyes opened, but everything felt bright and fuzzy.

"He's waking up," came a muffled unfamiliar voice. "Get CAPR's lead. What are you waiting for? Get moving!"

CAPR? That's right, Beacon and all that fun stuff. But if this was Beacon, then where was he? This certainly didn't feel like his cozy dorm bed. Something itched at the back of his head, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

The glint of someone moving a metallic piece of medical equipment caught his eye, and the still-fresh image of the Deathstalker's stinger in his hip burst into his head.

 _S***!_

Azure sat up and swept his right hand across the table next to him, searching for a weapon.

That was right - He'd been fighting a Deathstalker trying to make his way back to Rin. He took a stab to his leg, but… Then what? An incomplete abstraction in his mind told him that Celeste showed up at some point, but he couldn't recall where, when, or what happened after that.

"Easy there," came a doctor's voice. "Take a breathe. How're you feeling?"

Azure frantically scanned the room as if an attack were imminent. "Fine."

The doctor scribbled something on his clipboard, and then looked back up at him. "Can you move everything? Take it slowly."

 _Legs, arms…_

That… Couldn't be right. While the rest of his memory might be a scrambled and incomprehensible mess, he was _positive_ a gaping hole was left in his leg. It should've been impossible for it to feel as pristine as it did.

The same went for his left arm - It'd been completely disabled the last time he tried moving it. How did his twisted mess of an arm manage to restore itself? "Just… How long have I been asleep?

"Three days."

Azure responded with a blank frown. That explained why he felt so well-rested, but not his restored wounds. As far as he was concerned, his aura was nowhere near capable of this degree of healing.

Wait. Were they really his limbs? He kicked himself free of the sheets, and inspected himself.

No, those were definitely his. What sorcery was behind this?

"You can thank Optima for that," came Celeste through the door. "Courtesy of Team HOPE."

Rin followed her in with a relieved smile on her face. "Be grateful, they're good at what they do."

Azure slumped back in his bed, and sighed in relief. "Thought someone decided to rip off my broken limbs while I was sleeping and completely replace them for a second there."

Rin sat on the side of the bed next to him, and ran her hand up his left arm. "No, I'm sure it's still yours."

As much as Celeste wanted to say something, she felt that it might be better for her to leave. All she cared was that Azure finally woke up, and that everything was heading the right direction. Before she could turn to the door, Azure piped up.

"Well, Celeste, how're you holding up?"

It took her by surprise - Up to now, she'd felt as if there were some sort of invisible unspoken barrier blocking her from Rin and Azure whenever they were in presence of each other. "Uh, fine."

Azure raised an eyebrow and laughed. "You don't sound so sure."

"At least I didn't end up in a three-day coma like you did."

"What did your wounds look like anyways?" asked Rin. "You were up and about before I got a chance to see."

"BItes, cuts, scrapes. Nothing compared to what you and Azure got."

"Hmm… Running off on our own that time was probably a bad idea," sighed Azure.

 _Probably wasn't ever a good idea._ They'd gotten blasted by the Elementas before, only to almost get killed this time around. Either he had to better himself, or he had to recruit someone as a failsafe in the event he was unable to return to Rin in time.

Whatever the case, he could _not_ afford to let her die - Especially not at the hands of the Grimm. The thought of crushing the skull of a Nevermore passed by, and his muscles tensed. He already had one reason to seek vengeance against the Grimm, and he didn't need or want another.

Rin half-rolled her eyes. "It could've gone better."

"Anyways, it's good you're alright." Azure looked at the doctor. "Can I leave?"

The doctor looked at his clipboard and shrugged. "Go ahead."

Celeste smiled - It was a step in the right direction. She felt they probably weren't going to be head over heels for full cooperation, but at least the door to it was open. If things went well, they might even be able to reverse their commitment to the sparring tournament.

They found Picton in their dorm studying a textbook with a hand over his forehead. "Welcome back. Here, have a drink."

A flask and a clean cup suddenly dropped into Azure's hands. "What is it?"

"Just drink it. It's celebratory."

Rin raised an eyebrow. "Alcoholic?"

"Of course not. Next strongest thing though."

It was horribly bitter, and Azure had to resist his gag reflex. It was like drinking milk and old molasses together. "What the hell is this?"

"What, you don't like it? It's been helping my headache. Feels like that's the only thing Optima couldn't fix."

"Yeah, what happened to you?"

Picton clenched his other hand. "I don't even know anymore. It was more Grimm than I could count."

It was just like Picton was expecting - Direct combat wasn't his strong suit. Surveillance and monitoring were fine, but a brawl was too much. It was annoying how useless he felt in that situation. He'd signed up for a combat school, yet he still wasn't great at combat. He'd been trained in technical swordfighting which was more useful for killing _people,_ not Grimm.

"You alright?" asked Azure.

"I'm fine, don't worry about it. Just hard to concentrate with a headache."

"Fair enough."

Something needed to change before their next fight. Azure and Rin's resistance to cooperation was certainly problematic, but a non-factor to his own inability to fight effectively on his own. Independence was valuable up to a point, and in his eyes a good teammate had to be able to defend him or herself if the situation demanded it.

But that was something he could worry about later. Right now he needed to work on recovering and catching up on assigned readings.

Even Picton's willingness to talk to everyone was a surprise to Celeste. For someone who almost always kept to himself, this was certainly more than she could've asked for. At last, her team was starting to function and _feel_ like a team. There was still plenty of work to do, but there was _progress_.


End file.
